The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Mr. Florent Idallo, the French Chargé d’Affairs to Tehran, “to protest the insistence of French officials to support the publication of the caricature offensive to the Messenger (may God bless him and grant him peace).”
In a statement broadcast by the IRNA news agency today, the Media Center of the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that, in protest against the French authorities’ insistence on supporting the publication of cartoons insulting to the Messenger, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the French Chargé d’Affairs to Tehran.
The statement indicated that the Assistant Director General of Europe at the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned during the meeting “the unacceptable behavior of the French authorities that offended the feelings of millions of Muslims in Europe and the world,” stressing that the lack of respect for religious symbols and Islamic values is condemned by anyone.
“It is extremely regrettable to incite Islamophobia and hatred in the name of freedom of expression, which should serve the communication, sympathy and peaceful coexistence of human societies,” he added.
“The response of the French authorities to the actions of extremists who resort to violence in the name of Islam lacks reason, and it is the only basis for the growth of deviant and contradictory tendencies towards this divine religion, which has always embodied tolerance, rationality, peace, harmony and justice,” the Iranian official said, according to the statement.
