Iran has cancelled its annual anti-Zionist New Horizon Conference scheduled to take place next month, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday. In the past, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would use the conference to disparage Israel. According to The Telegraph, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stepped in to cancel the event, which was to have featured 63 overseas contributors. The decision prompted a wave of hostile responses from hardliners associated with the conference. Iranian news websites, including jahannews.com, said on Friday that the Foreign Ministry scrapped the gathering because it was seen as undermining the government's policy of "interaction with the outside world." Speaking at a previous conference, Ahmadinejad caused international outrage by describing the Holocaust as a "myth" and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." The notoriety of the event has drawn notorious extremists to Iran, such as the American far-right leader David Duke. Nader Talebzadeh, the main organizer of the event, said the cancellation of the conference was "a major mistake on the part of our government," The Telegraph reported, while websites sympathetic to the organizers were flooded with hostile comments. "Have our leaders given in so much to the world that are even afraid of a conference that might hurt Mr. Obama's feelings? [sic]" one commenter wrote on a website. "The latest piece from our government's show of capitulation," wrote another commenter. "What happened to our foreign policy slogan of prudence and honor? Replaced with compromise and humiliation-" asked another.
Iran cancels annual anti-Zionist conference
According to The Daily Telegraph, Iranian Foreign Ministry stepped in to cancel New Horizon Conference • Decision sparks wave of hostile responses • Cancellation is "a major mistake on the part of our government," says event organizer Nader Talebzadeh.
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