Iran summons French ambassador over insulting' cartoons depicting supreme leader Khamenei

Tehran [Iran], January 5 (ANI): Iran on Wednesday summoned France ambassador Nicolas Roche after the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published an issue mocking Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while supporting anti-government protests in Iran, IRNA reported.

The French ambassador was informed about the "disrespectful acts" of French journals insulting Muslim sanctities, and religious besides national values.

Notably, this week, the magazine released the edition titled "January 7" to commemorate the anniversary of the deadly 2015 terror attack on its Paris offices, with the subject "beat the mullahs," according to Arab News.

The publication had published various cartoons depicting the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic as part of a competition it launched in December in support of the three-month-old protest movement.

"The insulting and indecent act of a French publication in publishing cartoons against the religious and political authority will not go without an effective and decisive response," tweeted Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

"The freedom to which every human being aspires is incompatible with the archaism of religious thought and with submission to every supposedly spiritual authority, of which Ali Khamenei is the most deplorable example," Arab news quoted the magazine as saying.

Highlighting the fact that Iran doesn't accept blasphemy and insulting Islamic, religious, and national values, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that France has no right to justify insulting the sanctities of other Muslim countries and nations under the pretext of freedom of speech, reported IRNA.

Referring to the black history of the French journal in insulting the holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the responsibilities arising from this despicable, offensive, and unjustifiable act to the French government.

Reiterating that the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to respond proportionately, Kanaani said that the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted a note of official objection to the French Ambassador and emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran is awaiting an explanation and compensatory action by the French government in condemning the unacceptable behaviour of the French journal, according to IRNA.

The French publication supported a three-month-old protest which started after the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13 for dressing "inappropriately." Three days later, she died while in custody. It sparked demonstrations and clashes with security forces where many people lost their lives. (ANI)