Iran Press/ Iran news: In a statement on Thursday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry slammed the French government for supporting the sacrilege of religious values and spiritual beliefs by Charlie Hebdo, and declared that Iran 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.
The statement noted it would reexamine France's cultural activities in Iran.
According to the statement, the French government has an “undeniable responsibility” to deal with violations of the sanctity of freedom, breaches 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 French government.
The ministry “in the strongest terms” condemned the Charlie Hebdo 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 statement added that Charlie Hebdo 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.
Iran's foreign ministry noted that in the past years, the French magazine has repeatedly provoked Muslim anger by publishing insulting cartoons of Prophet Mohammad.
Tehran slams the inaction of the relevant French authorities 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 added.
According to the statement, Tehran also called for a serious fight against Islamophobia as a “manifestation of institutionalized racism in this country."
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