Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday warned that insulting the Prophet Mohammed may encourage “violence and bloodshed” following Paris’ defence of the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet.
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‘Insulting the prophet is no achievement. It’s immoral. It’s encouraging violence,’ Rouhani said in a televised speech during the weekly cabinet meeting.
‘It’s a surprise that this would come from those claiming culture and democracy, that they would somehow, even if unintentionally, encourage violence and bloodshed,’ he added.
Macron’s comments triggered protests and a call to boycott French goods in some Muslim-majority countries.
Rouhani said that ‘the West should understand that … insulting the Prophet is insulting all Muslims, all prophets, all human values, and trampling ethics’.
He added that ‘every single European is in debt to the Prophet, as he was the teacher of humanity’.
Iran on Tuesday summoned a senior French envoy, the charge d’affaires, to protest the ‘unacceptable behaviour of the French authorities’, after a chorus of criticism aimed at Macron by top Iranian officials in recent days.
GUARDIAN, NG