Charlie Hebdo's Khamenei cartoons stir storm between Iran and France

Iran's already frosty ties with France are worsening as the Islamic Republic closed down a key French cultural institute, hard-liners demanded the expulsion of the French envoy and the walls of the French mission were covered with graffiti.  
Men hold pictures of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , during a protest against the reprinting of the cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad by French magazine Charlie Hebdo, at the Imam Hussein square in the capital Tehran, on September 10, 2020. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
Men hold pictures of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , during a protest against the reprinting of the cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad by French magazine Charlie Hebdo, at the Imam Hussein square in the capital Tehran, on September 10, 2020. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images) - AFP via Getty Images
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A correspondent in Tehran

TEHRAN — A diplomatic row is unfolding between Tehran and Paris this week after the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo published a series of cartoons featuring Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an executioner. 

Infuriated by the sketches, Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned their publication as an "insult" and "desecration of Islamic values" as it summoned the French ambassador to present him with its "strongest protest" late on Wednesday.

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