New York, NY – Dianne Lob, Chair, and William Daroff, CEO, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement:

“We are outraged, but unfortunately hardly surprised, by Iranian President Raisi’s dishonest and dangerous call for ‘research’ to determine the truth of the Holocaust.

“We condemn President Raisi’s flagrant attempt to distort and minimize the impact of the Holocaust, particularly egregious as Jewish communities around the world begin to prepare for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

“Raisi’s deceitful questioning and factual distortions of the historical record of the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of six million Jews, demonstrates his deep-seated antisemitism and is all the more troubling given the Iranian regime’s extremist, hegemonic, and nuclear aspirations.

“The international community cannot welcome a regime that, along with its IRGC and other Iran-backed militant proxies have the innocent blood of Americans, Israelis, and many others on their hands. We call on lawmakers and responsible members of the international community to rebuke President Raisi’s threatening remarks. World leaders must speak strongly and loudly against hate speech and antisemitism, whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head. If Raisi is permitted to speak this week at the United Nations General Assembly, it will have achieved a new low in the hallowed halls of the international body.”