Iranian foreign minister slams Charlie Hebdo’s insulting move

The foreign minister of Iran has condemned the French magazine Charlie Hebdo for insulting the Leader of the Islamic Republic, stressing that such an offensive move won’t remain unanswered.

In a post on his Twitter account on January 4, Hossein Amirabdollahian lashed out at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for launching a competition to produce caricatures of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency.

The top Iranian diplomat warned that the French magazine's insulting and brazen move against the highly-revered religious and political authority will receive a “firm and effective” response.

“We won’t allow the government of France to overstep the mark. They have definitely taken the wrong path. We have already included that magazine in the list of sanctions,” Amirabdollahian said.

On December 12, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran imposed fresh sanctions on dozens of European Union (EU) and British officials and entities for their support and instigation of riots in Iran.

The ministry announced sanctions against five institutions, including French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, Radio Farda – the Persian-language service of the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Amsterdam-based and Persian-language Radio Zamaneh.