A firm and brutal response. The Islamic Republic of Iran announced on Thursday the closure of the French Institute for Research in Iran (IFRI), after the publication by Charlie Hebdo of cartoons considered insulting to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“(…) The ministry is ending the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran (IFRI) as a first step” in the Iranian response to the cartoons, says a press release from the Iranian Foreign Ministry. .
Iran had warned Paris on Wednesday that it would react after the publication of “insulting” caricatures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the satirical magazine.
Initially, the French ambassador to Iran had been summoned by the local authorities to protest against these same cartoons.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not accept insults to its Islamic, religious and national institutions and values in any form,” the official said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman to the French ambassador, according to comments reported on state television.
Already closed for many years
IFRI, located in the center of Tehran, had been closed for many years. It had reopened under the presidency of the moderate Hassan Rouhani (2013-2021) as a sign of the overheating of relations between France and Iran. It includes, in particular, a rich library, used by French-language students and Iranian academics.
According to its website, IFRI is affiliated with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was born in 1983 after the merger of the French Archaeological Delegation in Iran (DAFI), created in 1897, and the French Institute of Iranology in Tehran (IFIT), founded in 1947 by Henry Corbin.
Source: BFM TV
