Iranian TV shows acccurate series on the Holocaust: Go figure....

AP reports that Iranian TV has been broadcasting a mini-series on the Holocaust. It does NOT deny it. The show tells the story of an Iranian diplomat who, while based in Paris, helps Jews escape the Holocaust.

This would be noteworthy in and of itself given President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's energetic Holocaust denial.

What makes it even more mind boggling is that the government produced the series and it is airing it on state-run television.

According to the AP reporter the

series titled "Zero Degree Turn" is clearly sympathetic to the Jews' plight during World War II. It shows men, women and children with yellow stars on their clothes being taken forcibly out of their homes and loaded into trucks by Nazi soldiers.

The series is based on a real Iranian diplomat who distributed 500 Iranian passports to Jews seeking refuge during the 1940s.

There is speculation that the show represents an attempt, according to the AP report,

by Iran's leadership to moderate its image as anti-Semitic and to underline a distinction that Iranian officials often make — that their conflict is with Israel, not with the Jewish people.

In order for the series to be broadcast it had to have the imprimatur of Iran's clerics since state broadcaster is under the control of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei, who has final say in all matters inside Iran.

Finally, the AP notes that the series breaks "another taboo in Iran: For the first time, many actresses appear without the state-mandated Islamic dress code." Apparently, the producers wanted a realistic portrayal of 1940s Paris and headscarves and chadors would not have cut it

Go figure....

Of course, the next thing that might happen would be an announcement by Ahmadinejad himself denying that such a mini-series is being aired.