With Iranian reaction to the massacre at the French satirical magazine of Charlie Hebdo originally coming as a condemnation, Iran has since turned an about face on the issue.
Following the original condemnation, Tehran blocked Iranian journalists from demonstrating in solidarity with the Charlie Hebdo victims. Iranian officials and state-run media also spread false conspiracy theories about the attack and then proceeded to condemn the victimized magazine for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
As pointed United Against Nuclear Iran, one of the precedents, if not a key precedent, for current Muslim hostility and violence towards satirists, critics, and commentators who depict Mohammed occurred in 1989 when Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against writer Salman Rushdie for authoring The Satanic Verses.
Khomeini’s edict ordered the deaths of Rushdie and his publishers. While Rushdie has so far escaped direct physical harm due to extensive police protection, his Japanese translator was brutally stabbed to death in 1991 at his university offices in Japan.
While some members of the Iranian regime criticized the attack on the French magazine, many others also condemned Charlie Hebdo for previously publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Moreover, senior Iranian officials have openly described the Charlie Hebdo shooting as a false flag operation. For example, on January 14, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the French intelligence services perpetrated the attack to tarnish the image of Muslims.
Others in the Iranian establishment, such as Iran’s state-owned English-language news outlet Press TV, have also propagated similar ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories. The most creative of which blames Zionist forces in the French government, a statement made by Dr. Kevin Barrett, a well known outspoken Islamist sympathizer.
A similar response was found in the Iranian media. A publication linked with the semi-official Iranian paramilitary organization Ansar-e Hizbullah congratulated Muslims for holding Charlie Hebdo accountable for the offense of insulting the Prophet.
Following the first ‘post-attack’ edition of Charlie Hebdo that was published on January 14, featuring a cartoon of Mohammed on the cover holding a sign apparently apologizing to the magazine, Tehran denounced the magazine for being “insulting” and “provocative.”
Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Sharezi said it “amounts to declaring war on all Muslims.” The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, threw his two cents in and denounced the magazine’s new cover as well. In a statement made to the press Hussein said, that such cartoons “fuel feelings of hatred and resentment among people” and publishing them “shows contempt” for Muslim feelings.
Tehran shares with the Charlie Hebdo killers the belief that blasphemers should be put to death. Currently, an Iranian man is awaiting execution on charges of insulting the Prophet Mohammed in his postings on Facebook.
