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Insulting Muslims for “heinous crimes by such extremists is an opportunistic abuse of freedom of expression,” says Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif.
Iran has accused France of fueling “extremism” after President Emmanuel Macron defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
“Muslims are the main victims of the ‘cult of hatred’, empowered by colonial regimes and exported by their own clients,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.
“Insulting 1.9B Muslims – and their sanctities – for the heinous crimes of such extremists is an opportunistic abuse of freedom of expression. It only fuels extremism, ”he said.
Muslims are the main victims of the “cult of hatred”, promoted by the colonial regimes and exported by their own clients.
Insulting 1.9B Muslims – and their sanctities – for the heinous crimes of such extremists is an opportunistic abuse of freedom of expression.
It only fuels extremism.
– Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 26, 2020
It follows statements Macron made after a Chechen teenager murdered a French teacher on October 16.
Macron said that history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded for showing cartoons of the prophet to students “because Islamists want our future.”
On Sunday, Macron tweeted: “We will not give up, never.”
“We do not accept hate speech and we defend a reasonable debate,” added the French leader.
Macron has declared war on “Islamist separatism,” which he said is taking over some Muslim communities in France.
‘Irrational behavior’
Boycotts of French products are taking place in supermarkets in Qatar and Kuwait.
Iran’s religious leaders have not called for a boycott of French products. But several Iranian officials and politicians have condemned Macron for “Islamophobia,” according to Iranian state media.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Macron’s “irrational behavior” shows his “crudeness in politics.”
Shamkhani tweeted Macron’s comments showing “his lack of political experience, otherwise he would not have dared to insult Islam.”
He advised the French leader to “read more history” and not rely on Israel’s “support from a declining and deteriorating American.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, criticized France’s “foolish enmity” with the Prophet Muhammad, saying that his sayings and “the light cannot be turned off with such blind, useless and anti-human acts.”
Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on foreign policy, said the cartoon should not have been reprinted after the “global condemnation” of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
“We should have seen … the obscene magazine insulting the Prophet was not printed, but the implementation of double standards caused this heretical and anti-religious thinking to also manifest itself in the educational system of the country,” he said in a statement.
Macron’s comments sparked protests in some Muslim-majority countries with people burning photos of him in Syria and setting French flags on fire in Libya.
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