Tehran Friday Prayer leader Condemns Terrorist Attack in France

Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers leader Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami deplored the terrorist attack in the French capital city of Paris on Wednesday which killed at least 12 people.

Addressing a large and fervent congregation of people on Tehran University campus on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami said, "Killing innocent people is strictly forbidden in Islam, either in Paris, or in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan."

In relevant remarks on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned the attack in Paris, and said any act of terrorism against innocent people is opposed to Islamic teachings.

"Misusing freedom of expression, ideological extremism and character assassination of respectful figures of religions and nations as well as insulting divine faiths and their values and symbols which are respected by those religions are not acceptable and are condemned,” Afkham said.

Reacting to the Parish incident, she said those acts are continuation of the wave of extremism and unprecedented physical and ideological violence prevailing worldwide during the past decade.

Afkham regretted that the “inappropriate and double standard policies in dealing with violence and extremism have led to the spread of those acts and behaviors”.

She reiterated President Rouhani’s idea of creating a world free from violence and extremism, and expressed the hope that world leaders would adopt a unified policy through consultation and free from double standard policies to uproot causes of violence and extremism.

At least 12 people were killed on Wednesday when masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and opened fire. The French authorities have called the incident the worst terror attack in four decades.



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