After Tehran, it was Hezbollah, a powerful pro-Iranian movement in Lebanon, which on Tuesday condemned the cartoons of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic published by Charlie Hebdo, calling on Paris to crack down on the French satirical newspaper.
“Hezbollah strongly condemns this hideous act (…) we call on free and honest men around the world to denounce it,” the Shiite party said in a statement, without calling for demonstrations.
Charlie Hebdo published a series of cartoons on January 4 featuring the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, drawing the wrath of Tehran.
“Imam Khamenei is not just the leader of a large country, he is a religious reference for tens of millions of believers,” Hezbollah said.
French flags burned in front of the embassy
The Shiite movement “calls on the French government to take firm measures to punish the perpetrators of this act, who attacked what is sacred and flouted the dignity of an entire nation”.
In reaction to the publication of the cartoons, Iran closed last week in Tehran the French Institute for Research in Iran (IFRI), affiliated to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
And on Sunday, several dozen Iranians had gathered in front of the French embassy in Tehran, burning French flags.
Charlie Hebdo said it published these cartoons to support the people of Iran, as the country has been rocked for several months by unprecedented protests sparked by the death on September 16 of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who died after her arrest by the morality police.