Holocaust denial nothing new in Iran?

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financeguy

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/08/INGODGH99Q1.DTL

"Iran's axis with the Third Reich began during the prewar years, when it welcomed Nazi Gestapo agents and other operatives to Tehran, allowing them to use the city as a base for Middle East agitation against the British and the region's Jews.

Key among these German agents was Fritz Grobba, Berlin's envoy to the Middle East, who was often called "the German Lawrence," because he promised a Pan-Islamic state stretching from Casablanca to Tehran.

Relations between Berlin and Tehran were strong from the moment Hitler came to power in 1933. At that time, Reza Shah Pahlavi's nation was known as Persia. The shah became a stalwart admirer of Hitler, Nazism and the concept of the Aryan master race. He also sought the Reich's help in reducing British petro-political domination."
 
Iran and Nazism often fit together, because of the idea of the "Aryan master race." That's because the full name of Iran, "Iran Shahr," comes from the ancient name, "Aryānām Xšaθra," meaning "realm of the Aryans."

So, particularly when you're dealing with a country trying to assert its independence over a history of foreign influence, such Nazi ideals are going to start rearing their ugly heads. Of course, the funny thing, is that the largest Nazi group in Iran wants to get rid of Islam and Arab influence, so it's quite ironic when the theocratic overhead starts bringing up Nazism.

Melon
 
I know next to nothing about Iranian history, except that its Islamic revolution is Shi'ite and not Sunni. I know the historical origins of the Shi'ite and the Sunni branches of Islam, but I still haven't figured out their modern disagreements. Historically they do not agree on who should be caliph. They don't have a caliph in the modern Middle East, so I don't understand the differences that exist these days.
 
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