World Iran accuses France’s Macron of fuelling ‘extremism’

Iran has accused France of fuelling “extremism” after President Emmanuel Macron defended the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

© 'You assisted Saddam with $75bn … and now you make claims?' Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad... 'Muslims are the primary victims of the cult of hatred,' Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says [File: Dalati Nohra/Reuters]

“Muslims are the primary victims of the ‘cult of hatred’ – empowered by colonial regimes & exported by their own clients,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

“Insulting 1.9B Muslims – & their sanctities – for the abhorrent crimes of such extremists is an opportunistic abuse of freedom of speech. It only fuels extremism,” he said.

A gruesome murder in France rekindles the country’s debate on free speech and Islam

Muslims in France have been pressured to assimilate into the country’s secular culture. But at what cost?History and geography teacher Samuel Paty, 47, brought scrutiny this month when he showed his 12- to 14-year-old students two caricatures of Muhammad published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo — the same images that in 2015 inspired jihadists to kill 11 staff members at the magazine and six others in Paris. Parents and teachers at the school, located just 20 miles outside the capital, said Paty gave his Muslim pupils the opportunity to leave the classroom or look away so as not to anger them.

Macron denied attacking Islam, saying France has "no problem" with the religion which is practised by millions of people in France who "want to live in peace". His targets, he said, were terrorism and those who promote "radical Islam". "These are violent extremists who distort the religion and commit

U. S . President Donald Trump on Thursday said no one is authorized to speak to Iran on behalf of the United States, and he accused French President It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to and the White House declined to comment, but a report earlier this week said Macron had

It follows statements Macron made after a Chechen teenager murdered a French teacher on October 16.

Macron said history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded for showing caricatures of the prophet to pupils “because Islamists want our future”.

On Sunday, Macron said in a tweet: “We will not give in, ever.”

“We do not accept hate speech and defend reasonable debate,” the French leader added.

Macron has declared war on “Islamist separatism”, which he said is taking over some Muslim communities in France.

‘Irrational behaviour’

Boycotts of French goods are under way in supermarkets in Qatar and Kuwait.

Iran’s religious leaders have not called for a boycott of products from France. But several Iranian officials and politicians have condemned Macron for “Islamophobia”, according to Iranian state media.

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U. S . President Donald Trump on Thursday said no one is authorized to speak to Iran on behalf of the United States, and he accused French President It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to and the White House declined to comment, but a report earlier this week said Macron had

Macron said France and others are worried about the standoff between Iraqi’ s Kurdistan region and Macron said dialogue Baghdad and the Kurds "is the only path", and that his country is “ready to Turkey and Iran , which both border Kurdistan and have their own Kurdish minorities, have denounced

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Macron’s “irrational behaviour” displayed his “crudeness in politics”.

Shamkhani tweeted Macron’s comments showed “his lack of experience in politics, otherwise he would not have dared insult Islam”.

He advised the French leader to “read more history” and not rely on the “support of a declining American and deteriorating” Israel.

Parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf slammed France’s “foolish enmity” with the Prophet Mohammed, and said his sayings and “light cannot be put out with such blind, futile and anti-human acts”.

Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on foreign policy, said the cartoon should not have been reprinted following “global condemnation” of France’s Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

“We should have seen … the obscene magazine insulting the Prophet prevented from printing, but implementing double standards caused this heretical and anti-religious thinking to also manifest itself in the country’s education system,” he said in a statement.

Macron’s comments triggered protests in some Muslim-majority countries with people burning pictures of him in Syria and setting fire to French flags in Libya.