Status: 01/10/2023 10:14 p.m
The French satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” has once again aroused the displeasure of the Islamic world with its caricatures. This time it hit Iran’s spiritual leadership. Despite criticism, the editors even followed up.
Despite sharp criticism and diplomatic upheavals with Iran, the French satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” is again publishing caricatures about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Drawings mocking Iran’s spiritual leader and other clergymen can be seen both on the front page and inside the issue, which will be published on Wednesday. “The mullahs are not happy,” writes Riss, editor-in-chief. The Khamenei cartoons “do not seem to have made them laugh”.
The weekly had already published dozens of cartoons about the supreme spiritual leader in a special edition marking the anniversary of the deadly attack on its Paris office. The magazine said the cartoons are part of a competition it launched in December under the hashtag “#MullahsGetOut” in support of anti-government protests in Iran. “We wanted to support the Iranians’ struggle for their freedom by ridiculing their antediluvian religious leader and throwing him into the dustbin of history,” the editorial said.
French institute closed
After the cartoons were published last week, Iran threatened France with consequences and also closed a French research facility in the capital Tehran. On Sunday, several dozen Iranians gathered in front of the French embassy in Tehran and burned French flags. A cyber attack was also carried out on the Charlie Hebdo website. “A computer attack doesn’t cause any deaths, but it sets the tone,” continues Riss in the current issue of “Charlie Hebdo”.
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia also condemned the recently published drawings and called on France to punish the publication. The cartoons insulted Khamenei, who is revered by millions of Shiite believers around the world, it said.
2015 Islamist attack
In 2015, the magazine became the target of an Islamist attack in Paris after the paper had caused outrage among devout Muslims around the world by publishing cartoons of Mohammed. Eleven people died in the office of the satirical newspaper.