Iran summons French diplomat as Paris’ insult to Islam triggers Muslim outrage
Iran has summoned the French Chargé D’affaires to protest the anti-Islamic comments by the European country’s officials in support of the offensive cartoons attributed to God's Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), amid an outburst of anti-France outrage across the Muslim world.
According to Press TV, in the absence of the French ambassador to Tehran, Florent Aydalot was summoned on Monday to Foreign Ministry, where he met with the department’s Deputy Director-General for European Affairs.
During the session, the Iranian official denounced the French officials’ “unacceptable measures,” which have hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims in Europe and the entire world, saying, “Any insult and disrespect to Prophet (SAWA) and pure Islamic values by any person —regardless of their position — are strongly condemned and rejected.”
Earlier this month, French history teacher Samuel Paty provoked outrage by showing to his students the blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
He was killed outside his school in a Paris suburb on October 16 by an 18-year-old student, identified as Chechen Abdullakh Anzorov, who was shot dead by police soon after the killing.
French President Emmanuel Macron characterized the incident as an “Islamist terrorist attack.”
The remarks have triggered anti-France sentiment in the Muslim world, prompting calls for the boycott of French goods and an official apology.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian Foreign Ministry official said, “Fueling Islamophobia and hatred in the name of freedom of expression, which should serve understanding, empathy and peaceful coexistence between human societies, is regrettable.”
“The French officials’ irrational reaction to the actions of extremists, who perpetrate violence in the name of Islam, only provides the ground for the growth of tendencies that are deviant and inconsistent with this divine religion, which always heralds toleration, rationalism, peace and justice,” he added.
The French diplomat, for his part, promised to convey Iran’s protest to the relevant authorities in Paris as soon as possible.
Several high-ranking Iranian officials have already denounced the Islamophobic rhetoric of French officials and urged them to refrain from sacrilege of Islamic sanctities.
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