Hezbollah urges France to punish satirical magazine over Khamenei’s cartoons

By Wassim Saif Al-Din

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Lebanese group Hezbollah on Tuesday condemned French cartoons ridiculing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by Charlie Hebdo magazine, calling on France to punish the satirical weekly.

In a statement, Hezbollah termed the French caricatures of the Iranian leader as an “ugly act”.

The Lebanese group called on the French government to "take decisive measures to punish those responsible for this act over their assault on the sanctities and dignity of an entire nation.” Hezbollah is a major ally of Iran.

The French weekly published a series of caricatures depicting Iran's top leader on Jan. 5, which the Iranian authorities deemed as "offensive."

Last week, Iran summoned the French ambassador in Tehran to protest the lampooning images.

The drawings were chosen in a worldwide competition announced by Charlie Hebdo last month when it called on cartoonists to send the "funniest and meanest caricatures" of Iran's top political and religious authority.

The competition came amid months-long protests in Iran sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, while in police custody in mid-September.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report