You know Tom and Jerry, right? The sadistic, slightly stupid cat and the saucy, smart mouse trapped in a neverending cycle of violence and codependence that used to served up on Saturday mornings for the kiddies?

It’s another one of them Jew conspiracies, dontcha know.

So says Iran, anyway. According to Professor Hasan Bolkhari, a cultural advisor to the Iranian Education Ministry, the Jews of Hollywood created the cartoon to dress up the image of mice in the media, since the the Nazis had stigmatized Jews as “dirty mice” in the minds of Europeans.

Bolkhari’s speech, televised on the Iranian news and translated by Middle East Research Institute deconstructed Jerry for his audience:

The mouse is very clever and smart. Everything he does is so cute. He kicks the poor cat’s ass. Yet this cruelty does not make you despise the mouse. He looks so nice, and he is so clever. … This is exactly why some say it was meant to erase this image of mice from the minds of European children, and to show that the mouse is not dirty and has these traits. Unfortunately, we have many such cases in Hollywood shows.

The Yenta isn’t one to spew unsolicited advice, but if they would like evidence of Jewish smarts and strength, perhaps Iranian officials should quit watching cartoons and pay attention to the news instead.