TEHRAN -- A group of Iranian students protested outside the French embassy here Wednesday, condemning French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s insulting move in publishing sacrilegious cartoons.
The protestors called the publication of the cartoons an organized act against the Islamic leadership in Iran.
Iran has warned France over the “insulting and indecent” cartoons. Dozens of protesters, mostly students, gathered in front of the embassy in the centre of the capital Tehran and set fire to French flags.
Waving Iranian flags, they held pictures of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and signs reading “I will sacrifice my life for the Leader”, and “Shame on Charlie Hebdo”.
Similar protests have been held in Tehran, Iran’s holy city of Qom and elsewhere to condemn the blasphemous move.
Last week, Iran said it was closing the Tehran-based French Institute for Research in Iran “as a first step” in response to the insulting cartoons, after summoning Paris ambassador to protest the publication.
Located in the centre of Tehran, IFRI had been closed for many years, but was reopened under the 2013-2021 presidency of Hassan Rouhani as a sign of warming bilateral relations.