French satirical magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ renewed its attack on Iran, after publishing cartoons mocking Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, as Lebanese Hezbollah on Tuesday called on French authorities to punish the magazine.
And “Charlie Hebdo” has published new cartoons criticizing the regime in Iran, as the editor-in-chief known as “Rais” wrote in the editorial of the issue released today, Wednesday, “The religious are not happy. It does not seem that the caricatures of the their overlord… make them laugh a lot.”
Rees added that the magazine received 300 cartoons drawn by Iranians, most of them exiles, and chose among them “the most successful in communicating the idea and the most original”.
And “Charlie Hebdo” published the cartoons a few days ago in a special issue on the occasion of the anniversary of the attack on its headquarters in Paris on January 7, 2015, after having published cartoons insulting the Prophet Mohammed, may God bless him and grant him peace.
Last month, the magazine announced it was launching a contest to support the ongoing protests in Iran.
Following the publication of the cartoons, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador to Tehran, Nicholas Roche, to the ministry’s headquarters on Thursday and handed him a diplomatic note which included “Iran’s strong protest against the unacceptable abuse”.
Dozens of Iranians gathered in front of the French embassy in Tehran on Sunday, where they burned French flags, while the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ website was subjected to electronic attacks.
On the other hand, Hezbollah described Khamenei’s insulting cartoons as an “ugly act” and said in a statement yesterday that “hiding behind the categories of freedom of opinion, freedom of expression and freedom of the media has been exposed and will not benefit its owners.”
Hezbollah called on the French government to “take decisive measures to punish those responsible for this act because of their assault on the sanctity and dignity of an entire nation”.
