"We rushed to condemn the acts which happened in Paris since such actions are not related to Islam and Islam-seeking, which is growing in the region and the world, and (these actions) do and will not produce any effect but harming Islam and Muslims' face in the world," Zarif said in Tehran on Sunday.
"This move requires an all-out and joint global response against extremism, terrorism and violence and we believe that the double-standard policies and behaviors should be confronted, there should be a serious will to this end as the problem won't stay limited to this region," he underlined in a joint press conference with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides.
Zarif also referred to the age-old relations between Iran and Cyprus, and said, "The two countries' bilateral ties have always stayed at a constant level in the political, economic and cultural fields."
He expressed the hope that Cyprus could play a positive role in fighting terrorism, extremism and violence, and said, "Cyprus as the neighbor of Syria and Lebanon can play a good role in this regard."
At least 12 people were killed on Wednesday when masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and opened fire. The French authorities have called the incident the worst terror attack in four decades.
The same day, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned the attack, and said any act of terrorism against innocent people is opposed to Islamic teachings.
"Misusing freedom of expression, ideological extremism and character assassination of respectful figures of religions and nations as well as insulting divine faiths and their values and symbols which are respected by those religions are not acceptable and are condemned,” Afkham said on Wednesday.
Reacting to the Paris incident, she said those acts were continuation of the wave of extremism and unprecedented physical and ideological violence prevailing worldwide during the past decade.
Afkham regretted that the “inappropriate and double standard policies in dealing with violence and extremism have led to the spread of those acts and behaviors”.
She reiterated President Rouhani’s idea of creating a world free from violence and extremism, and expressed the hope that world leaders would adopt a unified policy through consultation and free from double standard policies to uproot causes of violence and extremism.
