Iran was the only country to object to the UN's resolution against Holocaust denial

Yesterday, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution  that "rejects and condemns without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part."

Nearly all envoys who spoke at the session strongly supported the resolution.

But not Iran.

The UN's press release about the session highlighted Iran's statement along with that of Israel and Germany, and even implied with its wording that it has validity:

Iran’s representative disassociated his country from the resolution although it did not block the passage of the text.  Strongly rejecting the attempt to misuse the concept of the Second World War to provide cover for the continuing practices of racism and expansionism, he said:  “The Israeli regime has applied both in its policies and practices over seven decades.”  Its brutal crimes against Palestine, which include ethnic cleansing, an inhumane blockage and forced evictions, have continued, he said.

The way this is written, the bold section sounds like the opinion of the UN writer, not only Iran.

Iran's statement was expanded later in the press release when the entire discussion was summarized:

The representative of Iran, speaking in explanation of position ahead of the vote, strongly rejected the attempt to misuse the concept of the Second World War to provide cover for the continuing practices of racism and expansionism, adding:  “The Israeli regime has applied both in its policies and practices over seven decades.”  Its brutal crimes against Palestine, which include ethnic cleansing, an inhumane blockage and forced evictions, have continued, he said.  Iran condemns genocide as a crime against humanity.  Therefore, Iran disassociates itself from the text in its entirety.

The representative from Ukraine was the only one who showed disgust at Iran's statement. “It is morally egregious to poison this moment and use it to attack and single out countries,” he said.

The Arab bloc, represented by Egypt, also tried to use the resolution against Israel, although only implicitly:

The representative of Egypt, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, echoed consensus on the resolution, stating that memory of such a black hole in history must be kept alive in the global consciousness so that it is never repeated.  However, this can only be ensured if the international community makes a sincere effort to strive for peace, and recognize the rights of others, including the right to self-determination and mutual coexistence.

 In 2007 a similar resolution passed at the UN, and Iran opposed it then as well, 

Iranian representative Hossein Gharibi, while reiterating his country’s “unambiguous” condemnation of genocide against any race, dismissed the resolution as a manipulation to deflect attention from Israel’s “atrocious” crimes and said it should have included other cases of genocide such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the US dropped atomic bombs, Palestine, Rwanda and the Balkans.

“In view of the above we truly disassociate ourselves from this entire hypocritical political exercise,” he declared.

 Israel's ambassador responded:

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said the lessons of the Holocaust are universal, compelling all nations to recommit to preventing the horrors of genocide. “While the nations of the world gather here to affirm the historicity of the Holocaust with the intent of never again allowing genocide, a Member of this Assembly is acquiring the capabilities to carry out its own,” he added.

“The President of Iran is in fact saying: ‘There really was no Holocaust, but just in case, we shall finish the job.’”

Iran has a history of Holocaust denial by its leaders, officials and state media. The US Holocaust Museum published a summary in 2016.

(h/t Irene)

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