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TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned on Wednesday that insulting the prophet Muhammad may fuel “violence and bloodshed” following Paris’ defense of publishing cartoons depicting the prophet.
Insulting the prophet is not an achievement. It is immoral. It’s encouraging violence, ”Rouhani said in a televised speech during the weekly cabinet meeting.
“It is a surprise that this comes from those who demand culture and democracy, who in some way, even if not intentionally, promote violence and bloodshed,” he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron has staunchly defended secular values and the right to scoff at religion following the murder of a French school teacher who had shown his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Macron’s comments sparked protests and a call for a boycott of French products in some Muslim-majority countries.
Rouhani said that “the West must understand that … insulting the prophet is insulting all Muslims, all prophets, all human values and trampling on ethics.”
He added that “all Europeans are indebted to the prophet, since he was the teacher of humanity.”
Rouhani also called on the West to “stop interfering in the internal affairs of Muslims” if it “truly seeks to achieve peace, equality, calm and security in today’s societies.”
Iran on Tuesday summoned a senior French envoy, the charge d’affaires, to protest “unacceptable behavior by the French authorities,” after a chorus of criticism directed at Macron by senior Iranian officials in recent days.
