Iran pledges “firm response” to French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s publication of “insulting” cartoons of the Ayatollah

Tehran – Iran warned France on Wednesday it would respond after “offensive” cartoons depicting Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The weekly published dozens of cartoons on the same day ridiculing the Islamic Republic’s highest religious and political figure.

The magazine said the cartoons are part of a competition it is holding in December in support of the protests triggered by 16.9 death in police custody by Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

“The insulting and indecent act of a French publication in publishing cartoons against religious and political authority will not go without an effective and decisive response,” he tweeted IranForeign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“We will not allow the French government to overstep its borders. They definitely chose the wrong path,” he said.

The French magazine said the competition aims to “support the struggle of Iranians who are fighting for their freedom”.

Iranian authorities say hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, were killed and thousands have been arrested in what they commonly refer to as “riots,” blaming hostile foreign powers and opposition groups for fomenting the riots.

Charlie Hebdo published the cartoons in a special anniversary edition fatal attack on his Paris office on January 7, 2015 by attackers who said they were acting on behalf of al-Qaeda to avenge the magazine Decision to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.