Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei has condemned France and other European governments for supporting the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and has rejected their claims of defending freedom of expression.
In a televised speech on Tuesday to mark the prophet’s birthday, Khamenei denounced the “bitter and ugly” official support behind caricatures published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
“This is not just a downfall of French art, this is the politics of a government that is supporting this wrong act. This is a political figure who explicitly supports this,” Khamenei said, in an apparent reference to French President Emmanuel Macron.
Citing freedom of expression, French and European leaders have backed the right to publish caricatures of the prophet, who is deeply revered by Muslims and whose visual depiction is forbidden in Islam.
The caricatures were cited as the reason behind a deadly attack launched on the magazine’s offices in early 2015 by al-Qaeda-linked fighters.
