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Tuesday, Aug 31, 2010 10:40 PM UTC

Iranian paper: Carla Bruni “deserves to die”

The daily calls the French first lady a "prostitute" again, and then takes things to a whole new level

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Topics: Iran, France, Nicolas Sarkozy, Broadsheet, Love and Sex,

Iranian paper: Carla Bruni FILE - In this Wednesday, July 14, 2010 file photo, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy attends the annual Bastille Day military parade on The Champs Elysee Avenue in Paris, France. Iran's hardline media have called the French first lady a "prostitute" after she expressed strong support for an Iranian woman facing death by stoning for adultery. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File) (Credit: AP)

Iran’s daily newspaper has offered some clarification about reports that it called the first lady of France a “prostitute” — you know, just in case any of us in the Western world assumed an unflattering mistranslation was to blame or that the comment was taken out of context. On Tuesday, the Kayhan paper made clear that, yup, it called her a prostitute — and this time, it added that she also “deserves to die.”

When I wrote yesterday about the paper calling her a “hypocrite” for defending an Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery, I speculated that the editorial powers that be saw Bruni-Sarkozy as “deserving of death as well.” At the time, I actually wondered for a moment whether I was being hyperbolic. Sadly, it turns out I wasn’t at all.

In the meantime, the Iranian government has expressed mild disapproval of the paper’s remarks. (It’s worth noting that the daily is supervised by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office.) Ramin Mehmanparast, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said: “The media can properly criticize the wrong and hostile policies of other countries by refraining from using insulting words.” Translation: Next time, make your murderous ire a little more subtle, dudes.

Tracy Clark-Flory

Tracy Clark-Flory is a staff writer at Salon. Follow @tracyclarkflory on Twitter and Facebook. More Tracy Clark-Flory.

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