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The fact that Kayhan called Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy, and the French actress Isabelle Adjani, the author of a previous open letter, “prostitutes” on Saturday led Iran’s foreign ministry to distance the government from the remarks. Ramin Mehmanparast, a foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday, that “insulting the officials of other countries and using inappropriate words, this is not approved of by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

On Tuesday Kayhan responded to criticism of its first attack by going even further in a second volley against Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy, calling her “the singer and decadent actress who managed to break [up] the Sarkozy family.” The newspaper added:

Studying Carla Bruni’s record clearly shows the reason why this immoral woman is backing an Iranian woman who has been condemned to death for committing adultery and being an accomplice in her husband’s murder and, in fact, she herself deserves to die.