Iran plans to hold forum on Holocaust

IRAN is planning a conference to assess the scale of the Holocaust, which president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejects as a myth.

"Iran's foreign ministry has decided to hold a conference on the Holocaust to assess its scale by scientific means and discuss its consequences," ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said yesterday.

He did not say when or where the conference would be held.

Mr Ahmadinejad caused international outrage last month when he said the Holocaust - the killing of six million Jews by the Nazis and their allies between 1933 and 1945 - was a myth and suggested Israel be moved to North America or Europe.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials yesterday said diplomacy could defuse a stand-off over its nuclear work, and warned that any Western push for sanctions could push up world oil prices.

The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany plan talks in London today on a strategy to tackle Iran's resumption of atomic research after a two-year moratorium.