At the initiative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a state-run Iranian university held a Holocaust-denial conference this week.

The conference, reported by Iran's official IRIB radio, was held at Isfahan University. It was entitled Holocaust: myth or reality, and was attended by students and faculty. According to the report, it was organized by Khamenei's Isfahan office.

Alireza Soltanshahi, a representative of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who heads the Presidential Office for the Study of the Palestinian Issue, addressed the gathering, telling participants that, the Holocaust myth has turned into an industry for the Zionists to gain money.

Ahmadinejad, who came to power in a surprise election victory last June, has provoked international outrage in recent months by labeling the Holocaust a myth and calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.

At the Isfahan conference, Soltanshahi further asserted that Germany was being compelled to pay reparations to Israel for the Holocaust even though there are no documents to substantiate the claim.