"I believe the Holocaust is the crime of Nazism," Khatami told Time magazine.

"But it is possible that the Holocaust, which is an absolute fact, a historical fact, would be misused. The Holocaust should not be, in any way, an excuse for the suppression of Palestinian rights," he told the New York-based newsweekly.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly denied publicly the Holocaust, as recently as August.

However, Khatami said he doubts his successor's malintent.

"I personally believe that he really didn't deny the existence of Holocaust," he said.

Khatami is the highest-profile Iranian to visit the United States since a rupture in diplomatic relations 25 years ago, after students occupied the US embassy in Tehran and held 53 hostages thre for 444 days.

"I regret the hostage crisis, hostage-taking," Khatami said.

"And I sympathize with the hostages and their families for their loss and their hurt. But this was (also) a revolutionary reaction to half a century of the US taking Iran hostage. Maybe the other (US) side would be more indebted (to Iran)," he told the magazine.

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