A caricature of Sayyed Ali Khamenei, published this Friday morning by the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria, sparked a wide campaign of solidarity with the Iranian leader on social media.

The drawing mocked Iran's ability to respond to any American aggression on it in light of the latest round of nuclear negotiations that were suspended today in Vienna and following the American threat of resorting to all options in case no agreement is reached. 

Twitter users who took to the social media platform included Lebanese and Iranians. 

Several hashtags were launched in support of Sayyed Khamenei and criticizing the Lebanese newspaper.

صحيفة الجمهورية برعاية اكتب واقبض، لا داعي للكرامات والتحلي بالأخلاق، الدولار يسبق#الا_السيد_القائد pic.twitter.com/nAcZ1Ck8SD

— ريّان (@RayanKdouh) December 3, 2021

سيدي يا خامنئي ❤️#إِلَّا_السَّيِّدَ_الْقَائد pic.twitter.com/bzvJ1Pibhl

— ruba salim mortada (@MortadaRoba) December 3, 2021

Some participants pointed out that such insolence comes at a time when the newspaper and its affiliated political current uses the claimed expression of "Iranian occupation of Lebanon" in its discourse.

في عهد الإحتلال الإيراني المزعوم للبنان صحيفة #الجمهورية اللبنانية تشتم قائد الثورة الإمام السيد علي الخامنئي(اطال الله عمره الشريف)، بإختصار الصحيفة ورسامها اتفه من ان نرد عليهم بس نقول لهم كلمتين: موتوا بغيظكم! pic.twitter.com/gsxJQtraPz

— Mehrdad Khalili (@m_khalili93) December 3, 2021

Others emphasized that freedom of the press did not entail insulting religious figures, and that is definitely not the way to express differences in political views. 

In a statement published this night on its website, Al Joumhouria newspaper announced that it did not mean any offense in the caricature published in Friday's issue and regretted the reactions it caused. The newspaper also took the caricature down.