Iran Summons French Ambassador over Charlie Hebdo Cartoons
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The ambassador of France to Tehran was called in by the Iranian Foreign Ministry in protest at the insulting move by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in publishing caricatures of the country’s top religious authority.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry announced that it has summoned the French envoy Nicolas Roche over the insults.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran brooks by no means any insults to its sanctities, and Islamic, religious, and national values,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani told the French ambassador in the meeting, according to the statement.
“France has no right to justify insults to other countries’ and Muslim nations’ sanctities under the pretext of freedom of expression,” he noted, voicing Iran’s “strong protest” to the French government.
The condemnation comes as Charlie Hebdo is set to publish several insulting cartoons of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a special issue later this week. The controversial right-wing magazine had in early December announced a competition for producing the cartoons, Press TV reported.
Referring to the “dark history” of the French publication in insulting Islam, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and the Holy Quran, the spokesman stressed that the French government bears the responsibility for this “hateful, insulting and unjustified” action.
Tehran reserves the right to give a “proportionate response,” he said, while also handing over the Foreign Ministry’s official note of protest to the French envoy.
The Islamic Republic of Iran expects the French government to provide explanations and take action in condemning the publication’s “unacceptable behavior,” he stressed.
The French ambassador said he would convey Iran’s protest to his respective country.
