Will Iran tag Jews and Christians?

"It obviously echoes the most horrible period of genocide in the world's history and the marking of Jewish people with a mark on their clothing by the Nazis, and anything of that kind would be totally repugnant to civilised countries," Mr Howard said of draconian new laws reportedly being proposed by the Iranian Parliament, which would mean Jews and Christians would be forced to wear identifying tags in public places.

However, the National Post of Canada, which broke the story, are today saying that the report of badges having to be worn by religious groups may be untrue, although there is some doubt about whether a proposal has been brought up in the Iranian Parliament as a possibility, which would be serious enough to warrant international disapproval. The National Post says:

According to the reports, Jews were to wear yellow cloth strips, called zonnar, while Christians were to wear red and Zoroastrians blue.

On the other hand, Hormoz Ghahremani, a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, is denying the claims, but adds that 'it is possible that some ideas might have been thrown around'. The Post goes on:

Ali Reza Nourizadeh, an Iranian commentator on political affairs in London, suggested that the requirements for badges or insignia for religious minorities was part of a 'secondary motion' introduced in parliament, addressing the changes specific to the attire of people of various religious backgrounds.

Hopefully, John Howard's comments were made as part of a campaign by international leaders to dissuade the Iranian Government from going any further with these proposals, should the reports prove to be true.