Charlie Hebdo faces similar fate to Salman Rushdie, Iran warns

IRAN has warned the editors of France’s

Charlie Hebdo magazine that they face a similar fate to Salman Rushdie after publishing more cartoons mocking Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It came days after the Islamic Republic hacked the satirical magazine’s servers, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Charlie Hebdo last week published the winning cartoons in a competition that called for people around the world to draw the most offensive caricatures of Iran’s supreme leader, in support of the protest movement in the country.

According to the local Mehr News Agency, Major Gen Hossein Salami, of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), said: “I advise the French and directors of the Charlie Hebdo magazine to take a look at the fate of Salman Rushdie.

“Do not play with Muslims. Salman Rushdie insulted the Qur’an and the Holy Prophet of Islam 30 years ago and hid in dangerous places.”

He said “sooner or later” Muslims would take revenge for “insulting and indecent” caricatures of the ayatollah.

There are fears for the magazine’s staff and readership after it was believed hackers linked to the Iranian regime stole data including the personal details of “several thousand subscribers”.

Mr Rushdie, a British-indian author, received death threats after publishing

The Satanic Verses in the 1980s. The 75-year-old was stabbed last year at a literary festival in upstate New York, where he sustained severe injuries. A New Jersey resident of Lebanese descent with suspected links to the IRGC is awaiting trial.

Charlie Hebdo’s Paris headquarters were attacked by Islamists in 2015, leaving 12 employees dead. However, this week its editors published a magazine cover depicting mullahs entering and exiting a naked woman’s womb while her legs are splayed. “It took us a week to find the exit,” reads the caption.

An editorial on its site reads: “A digital attack doesn’t leave anyone dead but it sets the tone. The mullah’s regime feels in such danger that it considers it vital to its existence to hack the website of a French newspaper.”