TEHRAN -- In a collaborative effort, the Iran Cartoon House and the newspaper Hamshahri have invited the world’s cartoonists to participate in a competition entitled “What Is the Limit of Western Freedom of Expression?”.

“The contest aims to pose the question in order to discover a lost reality, i.e., whether it is possible to draw cartoons on the Holocaust or not. If the Holocaust is true, it must be questioned with no fear,” Hamshahri Editor in Chief Mohammadreza Zaeri said during a press conference held at the daily’s offices in Tehran on Tuesday.

Cartoonists interested in participating should submit their works to info

irancartoon.com no later than May 5.

A competition on the theme of the Holocaust is also being held on Irancartoon, the official website of the Iran Cartoon House.

“This movement has provoked intense reactions in foreign countries, particularly in the United States, while these countries dare to insult Islam’s Prophet (S) with satirical images in the name of freedom of expression and expect Iran and other Muslim countries not to show any reaction,” Iran Cartoon House director Masud Shojaii Tabatabaii said at the press conference.

The Irancartoon website has posted a notice stating that the website may be shut down by the United States due to its efforts to clarify the issue of the Holocaust and, if that happens, advises readers to refer to the following addresses: www.adlroom.com, www.irfp.ir, and www.sharifnews.com.

The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten originally published the editorial cartoons, emboldening some European dailies to republish the sacrilegious drawings.