Iran warned the French government on Wednesday about “offensive” cartoons about Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The images were published in a special edition of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. The Iranian foreign minister promises a “determined and effective response”.
Charlie Hebdo launched a contest for cartoons about Khamenei on December 8. The weekly said it did this to “support the struggle of Iranians fighting for their freedom” by “ridiculing the religious leader of another era” and thus sending him “back to the dustbin of history” . Within weeks, the magazine would have received more than 300 drawings and thousands of threats worldwide. Charlie Hebdo published dozens of cartoons on Wednesday showing Khamenei being stoned by naked women, being hung by the hair of Mahsa Amini and being urinated on him. Amini recently died after she was arrested by the religious police for wearing a headscarf incorrectly, after which large protests broke out.
Also read this profile about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: from cosmopolitan to religious dinosaur
Wednesday responded the Iranian foreign minister to the published cartoons that this “will not happen without an effective response”. “We will not allow the French government to cross all borders.” According to the minister, France has “absolutely chosen the wrong path”. The French government has not yet responded to criticism from Iran.
The publication date of the drawings falls in the same week as the attack on the editors of Charlie Hebdo, in January 2015. The attack, which killed twelve people, followed the publication of cartoons about the prophet Mohammed. Cartoonist Laurent Sourisseau, publisher of Charlie Hebdo, said in a French radio broadcast on Tuesday that the drawings “may not please the Iranian regime,” but he said “it doesn’t matter.” Sourisseau survived the attack in 2015 and has been living under police protection ever since, but says he is not afraid of another attack. “We still have the right to draw whatever we want”