Status: 05.01.2023 4:39 p.m
After the French magazine “Charlie Hebdo” published caricatures of the head of state Ali Khamenei, Tehran threatened consequences. Iran has now closed a French institute in the country.
Iran has responded to the publication of caricatures of supreme spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo: Das French institute for research in Iran (IFRI), based in Tehran, is to be closed, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. It also summoned the French ambassador.
Tehran condemned the cartoons as “insulting symbols of sovereignty and national values”.
The cartoons mock Iran’s supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Image: charliehebdo.fr
Khamenei is mocked
Tehran threatened consequences on Wednesday after the magazine published the cartoons. Charlie Hebdo published several entries from its #MullahsGetOut cartoon contest on Wednesday. It mocks Iran’s supreme spiritual leader. One of the selected drawings, for example, shows Khamenei trying to save himself from drowning on a rope in a lake of blood.
According to the newspaper, the publication is intended to support the anti-government protests in Iran that have been going on for months.
Criticism of violence against demonstrators
Recently, the tone between Tehran and the governments of European countries had sharpened. The reason for this is the ongoing criticism of the violent actions taken by Iranian security forces during the protests. In addition to the arch-enemies USA and Israel, France was recently mentioned by the leadership. Many Iranian security officials and politicians have also been subject to EU sanctions since the protests broke out.
“There is freedom of the press in France”
France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna referred to the legal framework of the publication on the LCI broadcaster. “In France, unlike what is happening in Iran, there is freedom of the press.” Blasphemy does not exist in French law. It was said from Colonna’s ministry that nothing had yet been officially heard about the closure of the institute. If this is confirmed, it would be unfortunate. The institute is a stronghold of culture and exchange.
“Charlie Hebdo” on the sanctions list
“Charlie Hebdo” repeatedly mocks Iranian politicians. The magazine has therefore already been put on a sanctions list by the Islamic Republic.
In January 2015, Islamists attacked the editorial office of “Charlie Hebdo” after the newspaper published cartoons of Mohammed, which had caused outrage among devout Muslims. Twelve people were killed, including several of the paper’s best-known cartoonists.