Iranian FM Condemns Terrorist Stabbings in Nice
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif strongly condemned the terrorist knife attack that killed people at a church in France’s southern city of Nice on Thursday.
“We strongly condemn today's terrorist attack in Nice,” the top Iranian diplomat said in a tweet on Thursday.
“This escalating vicious cycle—hate speech, provocations & violence—must be replaced by reason & sanity,” he added.
“We should recognize that radicalism only breeds more radicalism, and peace cannot be achieved with ugly provocations,” Foreign Minister Zarif noted.
He was apparently referring to the recent provocative anti-Islam comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, which has outraged Muslim people across the world.
Last Wednesday, Macron supported a French teacher’s displaying of cartoons insulting Prophet Muhammad in his class. “France will never renounce caricatures,” Macron declared, defending the teacher for “promoting freedom.”
The teacher, Samuel Paty, was murdered by an 18-year-old Chechen assailant. Commenting on the attack, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis” worldwide, trying to suggest that the assailant had been motivated to kill the teacher by the faith rather than radicalism.
Macron insisted on his position again on Sunday by tweeting, “We will not give in, ever.” The Leader called the French statesman’s insolence a “stupid act” that served to affront the reason of the very people, who have voted him to power.
