U.S. should not condone insult to Islam in the name of freedom of speech: Iranian UN envoy

TEHRAN,Sept.16(MNA) – The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations said that Iran expects the U.S. government to seriously deal with those involved in the production and promotion of the anti-Islam film produced in California, which has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world. The film, which has been entitled ‘Innocence of Muslims’ and insults Prophet Muhammad (S), was made by U.S.-Israeli real-estate developer Sam Bacile, cost $5 million to make, and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors. Speaking to reporters in New York on Friday, Ambassador Mohammad Khazaii stated that the United States should not condone the incident in the name of freedom of speech. He added that the film was produced and released in line with efforts to promote Islamophobia in the world. If the United States and other Western countries had seriously dealt with similar acts of sacrilege against the sanctities of Muslims, the world would not have witnessed such an incident, he stated, referring to the threat issued by U.S. pastor Terry Jones to burn the Quran in 2010. Jones, the pastor of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center church, had intended to set the Quran on fire on September 11, 2010 to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States but cancelled his plan due to international pressure and criticism. However, a copy of the Quran was burned by a U.S. citizen on September 12, 2010.