The Iranian Foreign Minister said on Twitter that Iran does not deny the Holocaust, distancing the government from the often belligerent stance of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mohammad Javad Zarif�began tweeting Wednesday in English from an account, confirmed by CNN�s�Christiane Amanpour, as part of what appears to be a concerted Internet campaign by the new Iranian government to warm relations with the West, including Israel.
@sfpelosi�Iran never denied it. The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year.

�
Javad Zarif (@JZarif)�September 05, 2013
President Hassan Rouhani, who took office last month, is considered a moderate and contrasts with his hardline predecessor Ahmadinejad, who has referred to the Holocaust as a �myth.� On Wednesday, the Jewish New Year, Rouhani�tweeted�in English: �I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah,� using the Hebrew name for the holiday. The tweet included an image of a Jewish man praying at a Iranian synagogue.

The foreign minister�s statement on Thursday came in a back-and-forth on Twitter with�Christine Pelosi, the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, after he too wished Jews a happy New Year. The younger Pelosi, an author and activist, thanked the foreign minister and wrote: �The New Year would be even sweeter if you would end Iran�s Holocaust denial, sir.�

Zarif, who assumed office under Rouhani, was the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. from 2002 to �07, and a key member in Tehran�s nuclear negotiation team before talks collapsed in 2003�on Thursday, he was given the nuclear portfolio once more. Zarif speaks fluent English, received a doctorate at the University of Denver, and his children were born in the U.S, TIME�s Ishaan Tharoor�reports.

See the full Twitter conversation:


Happy Rosh Hashanah

�
Javad Zarif (@JZarif)�September 05, 2013

@sfpelosi�Iran never denied it. The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year.

�
Javad Zarif (@JZarif)�September 05, 2013
By Time World

 

The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.