Iranian MPs Urge Harsh Diplomatic Reaction to French Insult to Islam
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to show serious reaction to the French president’s backing for the insults to the Prophet of Islam, a lawmaker said.
Speaking to Tasnim on Friday, the spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said members of the commission have sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Abolfazl Amoee said the lawmakers have asked the Foreign Ministry to show serious reaction to the recent comments from the president of France, who has supported an offensive move by a satirical magazine to publish defamatory cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Denouncing Emmanuel Macron’s anti-Islamic move as an attempt to whitewash the domestic problems in France, Amoee said the French officials are trying to draw the public attention away from the political problems that have plagued their country.
In recent weeks, French President Emmanuel Macron has attacked Islam and the Muslim community, accusing Muslims of “separatism” and claiming that “Islam is a religion in crisis all over the world.”
Macron has also approved the publication of blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad and stressed that his country would not give up the insulting cartoons despite harsh criticisms from Muslims.
Moreover, French teacher Samuel Paty raised controversy and provoked anger over showing defamatory cartoons of the holy Prophet to his students. Paty was decapitated by an 18-year-old assailant, identified as Chechen Abdullakh Anzorov, who was shot dead by police soon after the killing.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has censured attempts by French politicians to link Muslims and Islam with terrorism, amid growing anti-Islam sentiment due to hostile policies adopted by the European state.
The French interior ministry said a total of 73 mosques, private schools, and workplaces had been shut down since January “in the fight against radicalization.”
Last week, French police stormed a mosque in a densely-populated suburb in the northeast of Paris, as part of a crackdown on Muslims in the wake of the French teacher's beheading.