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Iran's Holocaust Denial Is Part of a Malevolent Strategy
(Washington Post) Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh - The Islamic Republic of Iran held another Holocaust cartoon festival this month. Among Iran's ruling elite, Holocaust denial and the accompanying conspiracies about Jewish power all have strategic intent. Anti-Semitism is not only central to the regime's identity; it's also inextricably tied to its propaganda aimed at the larger Muslim world, especially Arabs. The revolution's father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, saw the Jews as surrogates of Western imperialism. His hatred toward Israel exceeded his disdain for America. It was America's conduct, not its existence, which the mullahs contested. Israel, on the other hand, was for Khomeini an unlawful entity, irrespective of its actual policies and behavior. Israel must be wiped off the map. In foreign affairs, this antagonism to Israel enforces the clerical regime's claims to regional leadership. Iran's anti-Semitic assault has broad popular appeal among Sunni Muslims. The regime's anti-Semitism will grow worse as the rewards of the nuclear deal increase. The mullahs no longer have to worry how the regime's hatred of Jews plays in the West. Reuel Marc Gerecht is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.