Iran summons French envoy over Prophet Muhammad's alleged 'insult' by Macron

Amid brewing anger in Islamic countries over French President Emmanuel Macron’s remark, Iran’s Foreign Ministry has reportedly summoned the French ambassador to lodge a protest against the alleged insult of Prophet Muhammad. According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, a ministry official told the French charge d’affaires that Iran strongly rejects any “insult and disrespect” to the Prophet and Islam’s pure values by any person “regardless of their position.”

Macron had defended the right to show a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad after the murder of a French teacher who showed cartoons of the religious leader in class. The French President said that the teacher, Samuel Paty, "was killed because Islamists want our future", but France would "not give up our cartoons". The visual depiction of Prophet Muhammad in any form since can cause serious offence to Islamic fundamentalists because they believe it amounts to blasphemy.

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Pak lodged protest

Earlier on October 26, Pakistan had summoned French envoy Marc Baréty to lodge “strong protest” against Macron’s comment on radical Islamists and cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the French Ambassador was called in to convey deep concerns over the “systematic resurgence of blasphemous acts” of republication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad by certain “irresponsible elements.” 

According to the statement posted on the spokesperson’s official Facebook page, the Foreign Ministry underscored the “such illegal and Islamophobic acts” hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world, including those in Pakistan. Pakistan also strongly condemned equating Islam with terrorism “for narrow electoral and political gains,” adding that such provocative statements and actions were fanning inter-religious hatred, hostility and confrontation. 

“At a time of rising racism, intolerance and populism, there is a need to promote harmony among peoples and communities instead of reinforcing stereotypes and making people alienated,” the spokesperson added.

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