Iranian newspaper calls for death of France's first lady

French First Lady Must Die, Says Iranian Newspaper

An Iranian daily newspaper with close ties to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has called for the execution of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The attack, which came in response to Bruni-Sarkozy's defense of an Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery, began on Saturday when the Kayhan newspaper ran a story headlined: "French prostitutes enter human rights uproar." The newspaper continued its assault today, calling the French first lady a "decadent actress" and "immoral woman ... known for her extramarital relations," and saying that she too deserved capital punishment for adultery. Iran's government sought to distance itself from the comments, and warned the country's media to be more restrained in future. "Insulting the officials of other countries and using inappropriate words … is not approved of by the Islamic Republic of Iran," a foreign-ministry spokesman said. "We don't think using inappropriate words and insulting words is the right thing to do."

Read original story in Reuters | Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010