Nazis or not?

Canada's National Post published a piece today claiming the Iranians have passed a law requiring Jews and Christians to wear colored badges when they are in public.

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

However, that story has been categorically denied by an independent reporter in Montreal 940:

The National Post is sending shockwaves across the country this morning with a report that Iran's Parliament has passed a law requiring mandatory Holocaust style badges to identify Jews and Christians.

But independent reporter Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli Middle East expert who was born and raised in Tehran, says the report is false.

"It's absolutely factually incorrect," he told The New 940 Montreal.

"Nowhere in the law is there any talk of Jews and Christians having to wear different colours. I've checked it with sources both inside Iran and outside."

"The Iranian people would never stand for it. The Iranian government wouldn't be stupid enough to do it."

The National Post attributes the story to Iranian exiles living in Canada. We kind of know the reliability of stories like this from the exile community. Just recall Ahmed Chalabi telling everyone how the Iraqis would greet us with open arms.

Meanwhile, John Avarosis at Americablog seems to think the Bush administration may have planted the story. I don't know what his basis for that is, but I certainly wouldn't put it past them.

Notwithstanding all this, the story has been picked up by the wire services and is being reported as truth all over the world. Even the Australian Prime Minister is up in arms about the Iranians.

Sounds like we're whipping up to a war frenzy, doesn't it?