Iran’s foreign ministry criticized the media yesterday for branding French first lady Carla Bruni a “prostitute” after she expressed support for a woman sentenced to death by stoning.
“Insulting officials of other countries and using indecent words is not endorsed by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.
“We don’t think using indecent and insulting words is a right move,” he said when asked to comment on Iranian media reports that described Bruni as an “immoral” woman and a “prostitute.”
PHOTO: AFP
“I hope the media will pay attention. The media can criticize the hostile policies of other countries, but refrain from using insulting words. This is not correct,” he said.
On Saturday, Iran’s hardline daily Kayhan made a blistering attack on the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy by branding her a “prostitute.”
The newspaper ran a story headlined “French prostitutes enter the human rights uproar,” in which it criticized Bruni and French actress Isabelle Adjani for supporting Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the 43-year-old Iranian mother of two, who has been sentenced to death by stoning.
“Bruni, the singer and depraved actress who managed to break the Sarkozy family and marry the French president and who is said to have an affair with a singer, has said in S.M.’s [Sakineh Mohammadi] defense that the verdict is unfair,” Kayhan wrote.
The newspaper continued its assault on Bruni yesterday, this time calling her an “Italian prostitute.”
“This Italian prostitute’s indignation at Kayhan’s report came while she has had illegitimate relationships with different people before and after marrying Sarkozy,” Kayhan wrote.
On Monday, the Web site www.inn.ir had also branded Bruni a “husband cheater.”
“Her record clearly shows why this immoral woman has supported an Iranian woman who has been convicted of committing adultery and of being an accomplice in her husband’s murder,” the Web site of government-run Iran group of news outlets said.
Bruni, Sarkozy’s third wife, angered the two media outlets by signing a petition for the release of Mohammadi-Ashtiani whose death by stoning sentence has generated an international outcry.
Human rights officials in the Iranian judiciary say Mohammadi-Ashtiani was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in a case that also got her a 10-year jail term for participating in her husband’s murder.
Iran says it has yet to take a final decision on the stoning of Mohammadi-Ashtiani.
Kayhan, whose managing director and chief editor is appointed by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is known for harshly insulting Iranian and foreign figures.
It has been dragged to court previously by many Iranians, including Nobel peace winner Shirin Ebadi and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a top aide of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
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