Iran’s Ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, is a real character. His account went on a tweeting spree Friday, covering a number of topics, including the issue of freedom of expression.
While much of it initially came off as innocuous spewing one would expect from a world leader, the Supreme Leader went in an even more predictable, Iranian direction by claiming that the Holocaust’s “reality is uncertain.”
That’s right – according to him, “if it has happened, it’s uncertain how it has happened.”
That excuse might work when you’re trying to deny plausibility for something you did when you were blacked out over the weekend, but this is just a little bit different.
The comments are taken from a speech Khamenei gave on Friday to mark the Persian New Year. He also had plenty to say about cultural red lines, which is to suggest that the West, in all of its evil, black-hearted glory, has the gall to make sure people feel like complete imbeciles for thinking the Holocaust couldn’t have possibly happened.
This, of course, isn’t the first time this exceptional genius has questioned the existence of the Holocaust. After all, Iran doesn’t even bother to recognize Israel (but when it’s feeling frisky, it opts to want it wiped off the map), so the two go hand-in-hand, and you have to give credit to him for maintaining such an absurdly wrong opinion in the face of absolute evidence.
Denying the Holocaust is like denying your own existence. You can’t just shrug your shoulders at it. This is history, and a toxic opinion like this would be far more hilarious if wasn’t from someone who had influence over an entire damn country. However, other political leaders in Iran, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have taken much more moderate stances, going so far as to condemn the Holocaust.
In that regard, we can empathize with some of the leadership in Iran; who hasn’t experienced a buffoonish co-worker?
The United States might be unhinged at times, but at least Barack Obama isn’t running around in his underwear on the White House lawn trying to tell you the Civil War was just some kind of fever dream.
