Tehran: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has denounced France’s treatment of Islam, adding that Western support for cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad is unethical and insulting to Muslims.
In a televised cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the president said freedom must be accompanied by a respect for values and consideration of ethics.
“Westerners must understand the great Prophet of Islam is loved by all Muslims and freedom-lovers of the world,” Rouhani said.
“Insulting the Prophet is insulting all Muslims. Insulting the Prophet is insulting all prophets, human values, and amounts to undermining ethics.”
The Prophet is deeply revered by Muslims and any kind of visual depiction of him is forbidden in Islam. The French caricatures in question are seen by Muslims as offensive and Islamophobic because they are perceived to link Islam with terrorism.
The images are regularly published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. They were cited as the reason behind a deadly attack launched on the magazine’s offices in early 2015 by two al-Qaeda-linked fighters.
