Students demand expulsion of French ambassador from Tehran

Iranian students continued protest gatherings in front of the French embassy in Tehran on Sunday to condemn the recent insults to Islam's Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and demand expulsion of the French ambassador from Iran, Fars News Agency reported.

Angry students in the Iranian capital staged a massive rally and burned the US, Israeli and French flags in a show of protest against the sacrilege of Islam's Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a US-Israeli movie and a French magazine.

Hundreds of protestors who had gathered in front of the French mission in Tehran this afternoon chanted "Death to the US", "Death to France" and "Death to Israel".

Students also cried out their protests in French, demanding the government to expel the French envoy and close down the French mission in Tehran in retaliation for the publication of blasphemous cartoons by a French magazine directed at the holy prophet of Islam.

Police and security forces prevented the crowd from approaching the diplomatic compound.

In a final statement issued at the end of the rally, the students warned the western states to put an end to their insults to Islam.

In a similar protest rally on Thursday, hundreds of students gathered in front of the embassy complex to protest at the sacrilegious cartoons.

The Iranian students also chanted slogans, calling for unity among Muslims and respect for the holy prophet of Islam (PBUH), and expressed disgust at the French government's anti-Islam policies.

The blasphemous caricatures were published after an anti-Islam US-Israeli film drew condemnation from numerous countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.

In Iran, millions of Iranians in Tehran and other cities across the country held nationwide rallies in protest against the recent desecration of Islam.

The Iranian protesters chanted "Death to the US" and "Death to Israel" slogans, expressing disgust at the US and the Zionist regime's anti-Islam policies.

Earlier, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei blamed the US and the Zionists for the sacrilege of Muslims' Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a movie made by an American-Israeli man, and called on Washington to punish those behind the blasphemous act.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Iranian supreme leader said the US and Zionists' hands can be seen behind the move, and said if Washington statesmen claim to be not involved in this sacrilege of Islam and Islamic values, they should punish those who have designed and orchestrated the move.

"The filthy hand of the enemies of Islam once again revealed its deep-rooted malice by insulting the Grand Prophet [Mohammad] (PBUH) and with an insane and deplorable measure showed the fury of the evil Zionists at the daily-increasing radiance of Islam and Holy Qur'an in the present world.