In a statement released on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran condemned, in the strongest terms, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s decision to launch a competition to produce caricatures of the Iranian religious authority.
It said such an offensive move by the notorious magazine amounts to the violation of the recognized moral norms, barbaric desecration of religious sanctities, a sacrilegious move against the political and religious authorities, and an offense against the administrative symbols and national values of Iranians.
Charlie Hebdo’s insult reveals once again that Zionism has taken advantage of media to promote anti-Islamic sentiments and foment hate and division among societies and people, the Foreign Ministry added.
It also lashed out at the French magazine for employing “freedom of expression” as a guise to carry out anti-cultural activities, insult human beings, and offend human dignity and religious values.
The statement deplored the French officials’ inaction on the magazine’s anti-Islamic move and racist hate actions, saying the Paris government has direct responsibility to hold those behind such a hate campaign accountable.
The ministry also noted that Iran will not tolerate a muted response to such an anti-cultural and anti-human move by the French magazine, will reconsider its cultural interaction with France, and will shut down the “French Institute for Research in Iran”.