The Iranian authorities had warned Paris on Wednesday that they would take action after the publication on Wednesday by

Charlie Hebdo

of these cartoons featuring the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Drawings deemed insulting to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

It's done: Tehran announced, as a first response this Thursday;

the closure of one of the oldest and most important French study centers 

“(…) The ministry is putting an end to the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran (Ifri) as a first step,” said the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.

According to its website, Ifri is affiliated with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Supporting “Iranians who are fighting for their freedom”

The cartoons published in the satirical newspaper were selected as part of a competition launched in December, as demonstrations continued in Iran to protest the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd arrested for violates the country's strict dress code.

Iranian officials, who generally decry "riots", say hundreds of people have been killed during the protests, including members of the security forces, and thousands more arrested.

Charlie Hebdo

had maintained in December that this “international contest” aimed to support the “Iranians who fight for their freedom”.

 “An insulting and indecent act”

The issue contains several sexual cartoons featuring Ayatollah Khamenei and other Iranian clerics, as well as cartoons exposing Iran's use of capital punishment as a tactic to intimidate protesters.

Two Iranians were executed for their involvement in the protests.

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian denounced "an insulting and indecent act" and promised that he would not remain "without an effective and firm response".

French Ambassador to Iran Nicolas Roche was summoned the same day by the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.



Ifri's headquarters, 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 warming of relations between France and Iran.

It includes in particular a rich library, used by students of the French language and Iranian academics.

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