For his special issue “January 7”, the anniversary of the attack on “Charlie Hebdo” in 2015, the satirical weekly chose to support the Iranians and to inflict a “rooted mullahs”, In the words of the “one”.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The Islamic Republic of Iran announced, Thursday, January 5, the closure of the French Research Institute in Iran (IFRI), after the publication by the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo of caricatures deemed insulting for the supreme guide Iranian, Ali Khamenei.
“The ministry puts an end to the activities of the French Research Institute in Iran (IFRI) as a first step” of the Iranian response to caricatures, said a statement from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Iran had warned on Wednesday Paris that it would react after the publication of “insulting” caricatures of the ayatollah.
According to its site, IFRI is affiliated with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was born in 1983 after the merger of the French archaeological delegation in Iran, created in 1897, and the French Institute of Iranology in Tehran, founded in 1947 by Henry Corbin.
IFRI, located in the center of Tehran, had been closed for many years. He had reopened under the chairmanship of the moderate Hassan Rohani (2013-2021) as a sign of the warming of relations between France and Iran. It includes in particular a rich library, used by students of the French language and Iranian academics.
“Remove the mullahs”
For his special issue “January 7”, the anniversary of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, in 2015, the satirical weekly chose to support the Iranians and to inflict a “rooted mullahs”, according to The terms of the “one”.
The country has been shaken for almost four months for almost four months by a wave of protest and repression triggered by the death, September 16, 2022, of Mahsa Amini, a 22 -year -old Iranian Kurd, who died after his arrest by the moral police, which reproached him for having violated the dress code imposing on women the wearing of the veil in public. Since then, at least 503 civilians have been killed, according to human rights organizations.
In reaction, Charlie Hebdo launched, on December 8, 2022, an international competition named “Unlocking the mullahs” (“Mullahs Get Out”). To see his selected drawing, the newspaper advised to make the caricature “funnier and nasty” of the Iranian supreme guide, Ali Khamenei. Thirty-five drawings were selected from the 300 sent to the editorial staff from Iran, Turkey, the United States, Senegal or Australia.