Tasnim – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected accusations of antisemitism leveled against Iran by US Vice President Mike Pence, saying the Islamic Republic has always supported the Jews but it is opposed to Zionism.

In an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel on Friday, the Iranian foreign minister called Pence’s accusations “ridiculous” and said, “Iran has always supported the Jews. We are just against Zionists. The Holocaust was a disaster.”

Pence on Friday accused Iran of antisemitism after visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

“The Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust and it seeks the means to achieve it,” he said.

According to reports, over 9,000 Jews currently live in Iran, mostly in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Under the Iranian constitution, the country’s Jews are represented in the parliament.