Portugal Chastises Iranian Ambassador Over Holocaust Denial

Lisbon - Iran's ambassador to Lisbon was summoned by Portugal's government after saying in an interview it would have taken the Nazis 15 years to burn the corpses of 6 million people.
The remarks, reflecting similar Holocaust denials by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, were an unacceptable distortion of history, Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral said in a statement.
The statements "seriously offended humanity's collective conscience," the minister said.
In an interview on Tuesday with Portuguese state radio RDP, Iranian ambassador Mohammed Taheri said: "When I was ambassador in Warsaw, I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau twice and made my calculations. To incinerate 6 million people, 15 years would be necessary."
Freitas do Amaral said Taheri was told his statements and those of his government's over the Holocaust were unacceptable.