Iran summons French ambassador over Charlie Hebdo cartoons of ayatollah

Iranian officials have summoned the French ambassador to the country to share their displeasure over the French publication Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon depiction of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a statement on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the country will not accept any insult to “Islamic as well as its national and religious values,” summoning French Ambassador to Tehran Nicolas Roche to swiftly discuss the situation. 

Kanaani’s response comes after Charlie Hebdo, a French-based satirical magazine, published a caricature of Khamenei, along with other Iranian prominent religious and political figures who were ridiculed for their roles in the ongoing protests in the country, according to the Guardian. 

“France has no right to justify insult to the sanctities of other nations and Islamic countries under the pretext of freedom of speech,” Kanaani, who also serves as the director of the Foreign Ministry’s Public Diplomacy Center, said in his statement.

According to the press release, Kanaani “further stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran is awaiting an explanation and a redressing action on the part of the French government in order to deplore the unacceptable behavior of the French magazine.” 

In response to Kanaani’s summons, Roche said that “he would swiftly convey the views of Iran and the text of the note of protest to his country’s officials.” 

The debate over the French publication’s caricatures comes as Iranian authorities have been cracking down on waves of protests in recent months sparked by the death of 22-year-old Iranian national Mahsa Amini. Protesters are calling for an end to violence and discrimination toward women in the country and in some cases the overthrow of the ruling government.

Amini died in police custody last month after being arrested by authorities for improperly wearing her hijab, which violated Iran’s strict rules on female dress codes. 

Amini’s death has also garnered international attention, with countries including the U.S. condemning Iran for its treatment of women and the deadly tactics it has used to disperse demonstrators. Iranian authorities have also barred several celebrities from leaving the country for their support of the protests. 

In an editorial response to Iran’s remarks, Charlie Hebdo’s director, Laurent Sourisseau, said that the cartoon of Khamenei and other Iranian figures was depicted in a way to show support for the demonstrators “who risk their lives to defend their freedom against the theocracy that has oppressed them since 1979,” The Guardian reported.

Sourisseau also said that the cartoons published had “the merit of defying the authority that the supposed supreme leader claims to be, as well as the cohort of his servants and other henchmen.”

The summons comes nearly eight years after an attack on the satirical French magazine’s offices in which 11 staffers and one police officer were killed in response to a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad and the magazine’s history of satirizing the religious figure.