Iran lashes out at French magazine over derogatory caricatures
TEHRAN- The Iranian embassy in France has censured the derogatory caricatures by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
In a statement issued by the embassy on Wednesday, the embassy insisted on the need to call on French authorities to stop publishing anti-Iran contents, bar the spread of campaign of insults and hatred.
“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while strongly condemning this move by Charlie Hebdo, greatly expects the concerned French officials to take necessary and immediate measures against this publication,” the embassy demanded, warning that if the magazine goes on with its obscene caricatures it will “surely leave a destructive effect on relations between the two countries and nations.”
The embassy said the move by the magazine goes sharpy against freedom of expression.
“The move followed by Charlie Hebdo magazine is in no way vindicated by fundamentals of freedom of expression, but instead it is considered as a measure made to insult personalities of nations, roll out a campaign of defamation, spread lies and hatred which are not pursuant to norms and standards of international law,” the statement read.
“Charlie Hebdo's action represents instrumental use and hypocritical exploitation of the principle of freedom of speech which considers its hostility to religion and religious values as its pride,” the embassy added.
“Charlie Hebdo, which falsely raised the claim of defending women's rights, depicts its true nature by publishing very disgusting and obscene caricatures in a special edition,” stated the embassy.
Iranian FM: We won’t allow France to overstep the mark
The foreign minister of Iran also denounced Charlie Hebdo for its insulting and obscene caricature.
The French magazine will face a "decisive and effective" retaliation for its blatant and disrespectful action against the highly esteemed “religious and political authorities,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian tweeted.
“We won’t allow the government of France to overstep the mark. They have definitely taken a wrong path. We have already included that magazine in the list of sanctions,” Amir Abdollahian underlined.