Iran summons French ambassador over offensive Charlie Hebdo cartoon

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The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced summoning the French Ambassador in Tehran, as an objection to a French magazine insulting the religious authority and Islamic sanctities and values.

Tehran "will never allow its sanctities and Islamic values ​​to be insulted," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

"France has no right, under the pretext of freedom of expression, to insult the sanctities of Muslims and other countries," Kanaani stressed, pointing to "the black record of the French magazine in attacking the Prophet of Islam, the Holy Quran and the religion of Islam."

"The French government is to be responsible for this hateful, humiliating, and unjustified act," he stressed, adding that "Iran reserves the right to respond appropriately to these actions, and it is waiting for an explanation from the French government and a condemnation of the unacceptable behavior of the French magazine."

In turn, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian posted a tweet saying, "the insulting and inappropriate act initiated by a French magazine against the political and religious authority" will not be unpunished.

"We will not allow the French government to overstep its bounds. They have certainly chosen a wrong path," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian slammed French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo over caricatures intended to offend religious and political Iranian authorities.

"The insulting and disgraceful act of a French magazine in publishing cartoons against religious and political authorities will receive a decisive and effective response," Amir-Abdollahian said in a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday.