<p>Iran has condemned as a "provocation" French magazine Charlie Hebdo's republication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to mark the opening of the trial into a 2015 attack on its offices by Islamist extremists.</p>.<p>In a statement issued late Thursday, the foreign ministry said the reissue of the cartoons, first published by a Danish newspaper in 2005, was an "insult" to more than one billion Muslims around the world.</p>.<p>"The offensive act by the French publication... is a provocation," the ministry said.</p>.<p>"Any insult or disrespect towards Islam's holy prophet... or the other prophets of God (the Jewish and Christian figures also recognised by Muslims)... is absolutely unacceptable," it added.</p>.<p>It called for freedom of expression to be used in a constructive manner to forge "greater understanding between religions".</p>.<p>Twelve people, including some of France's most celebrated cartoonists, were killed on January 7, 2015, when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi went on a gun rampage at the magazine's Paris offices.</p>.<p>The perpetrators were killed in the wake of the massacre but 14 alleged accomplices in the attacks, which also targeted a Jewish supermarket, went on trial in Paris on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Despite its outrage at the cartoons, Iran condemned the deadly attack on the paper's offices.</p>
<p>Iran has condemned as a "provocation" French magazine Charlie Hebdo's republication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to mark the opening of the trial into a 2015 attack on its offices by Islamist extremists.</p>.<p>In a statement issued late Thursday, the foreign ministry said the reissue of the cartoons, first published by a Danish newspaper in 2005, was an "insult" to more than one billion Muslims around the world.</p>.<p>"The offensive act by the French publication... is a provocation," the ministry said.</p>.<p>"Any insult or disrespect towards Islam's holy prophet... or the other prophets of God (the Jewish and Christian figures also recognised by Muslims)... is absolutely unacceptable," it added.</p>.<p>It called for freedom of expression to be used in a constructive manner to forge "greater understanding between religions".</p>.<p>Twelve people, including some of France's most celebrated cartoonists, were killed on January 7, 2015, when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi went on a gun rampage at the magazine's Paris offices.</p>.<p>The perpetrators were killed in the wake of the massacre but 14 alleged accomplices in the attacks, which also targeted a Jewish supermarket, went on trial in Paris on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Despite its outrage at the cartoons, Iran condemned the deadly attack on the paper's offices.</p>