On February 14, 2006, the editor in chief of "Hamshahri" commented in Persian that "the purpose of establishing such a competition is not to offend or ridicule anyone, but to do a discussion about the realities of the Holocaust." He also indicated that "Hamshahri" tries really hard not to cause pain for anyone and also added that the newspaper has no contention with the Jews in Iran or any other place, but that it has problems with Zionism. Masood Shojaei, the director of Iran's Caricature House which cosponsored the competition also said: "Iran's Caricature House, as the only technically qualified center involved in the competition regards the Holocaust topic as a terrible and saddening issue". The exhibition put on by The Iran Cartoon Organisation and "Hamshahri" newspaper opened on August 14, 2006.