Chicago ? A Northwestern University professor known for denying the Holocaust happened has publicly sided with Iran’s hard-line president, who has been on a campaign against Israel.

Engineering professor Arthur Butz said that he agrees with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks calling the Holocaust a “myth.” Butz said his comments supporting the president recently were published by the Tehran Times and Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.

Butz, a tenured professor whose views have been known in the United States for years, is being promoted by Iranian news sources as one of the world scholars who support Ahmadinejad’s views on the Holocaust.

Jewish leaders fear that support from a U.S. educator could add credibility to Ahmadinejad’s comments about the Holocaust.