Iran Shuts Down Newspaper for Publishing Image of George Clooney With ‘Je Suis Charlie’ Pin

An Iranian newspaper was abruptly shut down after it ran an image of Hollywood actor George Clooney sporting a “Je Suis Charlie” pin under the headline “Clooney: I am Charlie Too” during a recent Golden Globes appearance.

Mardom e-Emruz, which stands for “Today’s People,” had only been up and running for a month before the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government revoked its permit for running the image, according to The Wrap. Judges and leading authoritarian figures reportedly referred to the image as “obscene”.

Analysts posited that the “Je Suis Charlie” catchphrase, which has become a sensation around the world in support of free speech, was seen by Iran’s conservative base as being “anti-Islamic.”

“The court in charge of cultural affairs and the media imposed the ban on the newspaper for publishing a headline and a picture which it deemed insulting,” said Adhmad Sattari, the director of Mardom e-Emruz, notes The Wrap.

Following the terrorist attacks on the staff at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which claimed the lives of 12 people, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani issued the following tweet:

We condemn violence, extremism & terrorism everywhere: whether in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or in Paris or in the United States. #WAVE

— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 9, 2015

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter: @AdelleNaz.