Charlie Hebdo provokes Iranian mullahs – the action has consequences Brazil: Bolsonaro radical supporters tear policemen off their horses

Ali Khamenei’s life hangs by a thread. Iran’s supreme spiritual leader tries to save himself from drowning in a massacre by grabbing a hangman’s knot.

This is one of more than 300 cartoons entered in the #MullahGetOut contest run by French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Eight years after the Islamist-motivated attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, the newspaper released a special edition. This not only looks at the past, but also at the present: the protests in Iran.

Its editors were almost wiped out at the time because of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. Now the newspaper, which is still under police protection, is showing solidarity with the protest movement in Iran – and is firing full force against Iran’s religious leaders.

Provocative front page

The front page shows a naked woman giving birth, while petite ayatollahs walk into her vagina. Next to the picture is written: «Mollahs, retournez d’où vous venez» (Mollahs, go back to where you came from). The news service Twitter qualified the cartoon as “sensitive content”.

The publication is the result of the campaign #MullahsGetOut. Since December, the editors have been collecting caricatures of people from all over the world. The only requirement: mock the religious leadership in Iran – and “send it to the dustbin of history”.

By the time the magazine went to press, the newspaper had received more than 300 cartoons, as well as thousands of threats. The newspaper published the 35 “most mature, most original and most suitable” cartoons. Many of the cartoons are said to come from Iranians living in exile.

Competition has a catch

The action is no coincidence. The initiative focuses on an action in 1993 when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards called for caricatures of Salman Rushdie, the author of the novel The Satanic Verses.

As early as 1989, the Iranian ayatollah and revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (an Islamic edict) ordering the assassination of the writer. Reason: The novel insults Islam. In 2016, the bounty for killing the author was increased from about $600,000 to $4 million. In 2022, Rushdie was stabbed by a Shia extremist on an open stage in New York. He barely survived the attack.

The Iranian government feels provoked

The action did not go unnoticed in the theocracy. The first reaction was not long in coming. After publication, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of the French research institute (IFRI) in Tehran. In the mid-19th century, the French conducted archaeological excavations in Iran and the finds are housed in the institute. The research center only reopened in 2021 after years of closure as a sign of rapprochement in bilateral relations between France and Iran.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the renewed closure is “a first step”. In a statement, the ministry accused “inaction regarding anti-Islamism and the spread of racist hatred in French publications”.

France referred to freedom of the press

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna reject the criticism and made it clear that there is freedom of the press in France, “which Iran probably does not know about”.

In a second statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said that “freedom of expression should not be used as an excuse to insult any religion”. France must respect the “fundamental principles of international relations, including mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs”.

Not only the government feels provoked by the publication of the cartoons. According to AFP news agency, numerous Iranians protested against the satirical newspaper in front of the French embassy in Tehran on Sunday. The supporters of the mullahs set fire to French flags and held up signs reading “I will sacrifice my life for the Führer” and “Shame on Charlie Hebdo”.

Caricatures play down violence

But the criticism does not only come from within its own ranks. Iranian activist Sanaz Azimipour, who lives in Germany, finds the caricatures tasteless. The native Iranian told Deutschlandfunk Kultur that the movement in Iran was feminist and progressive, but she found the caricatures sexist.

She criticizes one cartoon in particular: a cowgirl trying to lasso Ali Khamenei. This would only play down violence against women in Iran.

All other cartoons can be found here.