Ban Slams Iran over Holocaust, Anti-Israel Remarks

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday reprimanded Iran for "outrageous" comments denying the Holocaust and Israel's right to exist, and called on the two arch-nemeses to drop threats against each other.

"I strongly reject any threat by any (U.N.) member state to destroy another, or outrageous comments to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said in a speech before a Non-Aligned summit in Tehran.

"Claiming another U.N. member state does not have the right to exist or describe it in racist terms is not only utterly wrong but undermines the very principles we have all praised to uphold," he added.