Holocaust did happen, says Iran's new regime Change of tone: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Iran's new Foreign Minister has drawn a line under the era of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president, by stating unequivocally that his country does not deny the Holocaust. Mohammad Javad Zarif's declaration, made via Twitter, was the second olive branch proffered by Iran to the world's Jews in two days. It was also the latest example of a high-ranking Iranian official using social media to set a conciliatory new tone - contrasting sharply with the abrasive views of the former leader, who dismissed the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis as a "myth." Mr Zarif had earlier wished Jews a "Happy Rosh Hashanah [new year]," echoing a similar Twitter message sent in the name of Hassan Rouhani, Iran's recently inaugurated President. The message attributed to Mr Rouhani wished Jews a blessed Rosh Hashanah and was accompanied by a picture of an Iranian Jew praying at a Tehran synagogue. Mr Zarif seized the opportunity to distance the new government from Mr Ahmadinejad after getting a reply to his message from the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic minority leader of the US House of Representatives. "The New Year would be even sweeter if you would end Iran's Holocaust denial, sir," Democrat strategist Christine Pelosi wrote. "Iran never denied it," Mr Zarif wrote in response. The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy new year. He later confirmed the exchange on Facebook after being asked if the Twitter comments were genuine. He published the text of an interview with Tasnim, an Iranian news agency, and wrote: "We condemn the massacre of Jews by the Nazis, and we condemn the massacre of Palestinians by the Zionists." In that interview, he said: "We have nothing against Jews and Judaism, but we do not allow Zionists to present Iran as being anti-Semitic and bellicose in their propaganda so they can continue to repress the Palestinian people ... and have their crimes forgotten." Mr Zarif tweeted later that the Foreign Ministry would take over Iran's sensitive nuclear file, in a move some analysts saw as a possible readiness for compromise. Nuclear talks were previously the responsibility of the secretary to the Supreme National Security Council, a position held until recently by Saeed Jalili, a hardline ally of Mr Ahmadinejad. Meir Javedanfar, an Iran-born commentator based in Israel, said the new Twitter diplomacy was meant to signify an end to Mr Ahmadinejad's confrontational approach and prepare the ground for Dr Rouhani's visit to the UN General Assembly in New York this month. But Rouhani and Zarif speak only for the new administration - not for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Revolutionary Guards, which is where the real power lies. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel's suspicions about Iran's nuclear program remained. "Since Rouhani's election we've seen an increase in the number of centrifuges spinning," he said.