Iran Soccer Team Cartoons

German Threatened with Death over Iran Soccer Team Caricature

A German political cartoonist has been threatened with death after publishing a caricature in which the Iranian national soccer team wear belts of explosives next to German soldiers.

Klaus Stuttmann, whose caricature was published in the Friday edition of the leading Tagesspiegel daily, says the cartoon came in response to politicians who called for soldiers guarding this summer's soccer World Cup in Germany.

While Iranians are complaining about being portrayed as violent, Danish Foreign Minister, Per Stig Møller, is criticising Iran and Syria for not doing enough to stop the riots (which is a polite way of saying that the Iranian and Syrian governments are organizing the riots).

(Conflict could last 100 years):

....While Møller praised Indonesia's leader for coming forward on national TV and rejecting extremists, the foreign minister was critical of Syrian and Iranian authorities for not being able to control demonstrators.

'In both countries, there was completely inadequate protection of the embassies. I don't want to draw hasty conclusions about what has happened, but I have informed Iran and Syria's government that no matter what the political motivation was on the streets, it is the governments' responsibility to protect the embassies. Even during World War II, embassies were left in peace,' said Møller.

Møller was particularly critical of Iran's leadership.

'Iran has to choose. If it wants to be a part of the world society, including the WTO, it will have to take steps toward us. Otherwise, it isolates itself. It's a choice the Iranians will have to make,' he said....,

And while we're speaking of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark: They have put up a page with Frequently Asked Questions about the cartoons: Drawings in a Danish Newspaper: Questions and Answers.