Iran to Close French Cultural Institute in Response to Charlie Hebdo’s Insulting Cartoons

FNA – The Iranian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the French government for keeping mum on sacrilege of religious values and spiritual beliefs by Charlie Hebdo, and declared that Tehran will shut down the French Institute for Research in Iran as the first step in response to insulting cartoons published by the Paris-based magazine.

In a statement on Thursday, the foreign ministry noted it would reexamine France’s cultural activities in Iran, and that it was “ending the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran as a first step”.

It added that the French government bears “undeniable responsibility” to deal with violations of the sanctity of freedom, breach of human rights, insults against religious values and beliefs and threats to the national sovereignty of other countries by legal and natural persons subject to the rule of the European country’s government.

The ministry condemned “in the strongest terms” the infamous French magazine’s move “to trample on recognized moral norms, savagely violate religious sanctities, disrespect the sanctum of the politico-religious authority, and insult the Iranians’ state symbols and national values”.

The French publication’s move was another sign of the Zionism’s role in a media campaign to promote Islamophobia, incite hatred and sow discord among peoples and countries, the statement read.

It added that the French publication has for many years misused the noble concept of “freedom of speech” as a cover for its anti-cultural acts and desecration of humans as well as sublime moral and religious values.

The statement noted that in the past years, the French magazine has repeatedly provoked Muslim anger by publishing insulting cartoons of Prophet Mohammad.

Iran slams the inaction of the relevant authorities in France in dealing with the French publications’ measures against Islam and the spread of racist hatred and reiterates the direct responsibility of the government in Paris to hold accountable the perpetrators of such moves, the ministry said.

The ministry stated that Iran also called for a serious fight against Islamophobia as a “manifestation of institutionalized racism in this country”.

It vowed to seriously pursue the Iranian nation’s demand for the French government to hold accountable the perpetrators and prevent their repetition, saying Tehran would take appropriate measures in this regard.

The statement comes as Charlie Hebdo magazine is set to publish several insulting cartoons of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a special issue later this week.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned the French Ambassador in Tehran Nicolas Roche to protest the insulting act by the French magazine.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran brooks by no means any insults to its sanctities, and Islamic, religious, and national values,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kana’ani told the French envoy in the meeting.

“France has no right to justify insults to other countries’ and Muslim nations’ sanctities under the pretext of freedom of expression,” he noted, voicing Tehran’s “strong protest” to Paris.