Iran bars Israeli-Arab from conference

Jerusalem: Iran has barred an Israeli-Arab lawyer from attending the controversial Holocaust conference in Tehran, the Jerusalem Post Daily reported.

Khaled Mohammad, who runs a Holocaust museum in Nazareth, said he was denied a visa to Iran after he sent a copy of his Israeli passport.

"This is a political decision," Mohammad said, adding that organisers had invited him to the conference when they thought he was a Palestinian.

"I wanted to face the Holocaust deniers and prove to them that they should recognise the Holocaust," he said.

Conference sponsor Iran said the two-day event will allow domestic and foreign "researchers" to question the Holocaust.

Iran opened the conference on Monday, despite criticism from Germany, the United States and Israel.