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The intention behind the competition is to mock the Islamic State, its militants and its beliefs.
Updated : May 28, 2015, 10:19 AM IST
Iran has organised a caricature competition to mock Islamic State militants and invited thousands of submissions from across the world.
The competition is set to be held in Tehran, and according to reports it has attracted entries from UK, Peru, Italy, Cuba, France, Australia and Indonesia among a number of other countries.
The intention behind the competition is to mock the Islamic State, its militants and its beliefs.
Out of more than 800 entries, around 280 cartoons have been selected for the final round. The best ones will be displayed across Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, reports suggest.
The contest organiser Mohammad Habibi, as quoted by a daily, said, "Nowadays everyone around the world knows about the parasite by the name of Isis and what crimes they have committed against humanity and art and culture. Artists now have the duty to raise public awareness about this group by participating in such events." He also said that some of the cartoonists who were attending the exhibition and competition, are travelling under pseudonyms, due to security reasons.
The head of Iran's House of Cartoons, Massoud Shoajaei Tabatabaii, explained the idea behind this exhibition. In an interview to Iran's Press TV, he said, "In order to reveal the true nature of [Islamic State], we decided to hold this contest and have people submit their cartoons or caricatures. [Islamic State] tries to associate itself with Islam but in essence it has no idea about Islam."
Winners will be announced at a ceremony due to take place at Tehran's Arasbaran Cultural Centre on 31 May.
The attack on Paris's Charlie Hebdo office seems to have not dampened the spirit of the cartoonists who have participated in the competition.
In one of the cartoon, an Islamic State militant is shown with blood on his hands, while different countries are seen offering him a towel.
Picture courtesy: Press TV Twitter
The cartoons have gone viral on micro-blogging site Twitter. Check out few of the following tweets.
Cartoon and Caricature contest by Iran on Daesh pic.twitter.com/27cU3lUckk
— Raza Hamdani (@hamdani_raza) May 26, 2015
Iran holds anti-ISIS cartoon contest (Taking the war to the next level...) pic.twitter.com/oquQtNaSKg
— Negar Mortazavi (@NegarMortazavi) May 26, 2015
An Iranian cartoon contest lampoons IS, alleged backers (@GEsfandiari) http://t.co/eecaAwe8u0 pic.twitter.com/sMpUq3us3W
— RFE/RL (@RFERL) May 27, 2015
Anti-#ISIS cartoon exhibition opened in Tehran #Iran, 280 work from 40 countries displayed. http://t.co/WA7RZfxMQZ pic.twitter.com/nV9ZVho0eY
— Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) May 24, 2015
Anti- #ISIS cartoon competition launched in #Iran http://t.co/Os585pHl9i pic.twitter.com/xRyKhbltDi
— Kristina Dei (@KristinaDei) May 27, 2015
Today's cartoon: #IslamicState as a cancer on the world http://t.co/K609vP6oct via @varvel #ISIS pic.twitter.com/P6a8ZIu4Ux
— Linda Dono (@LindaDono) May 27, 2015
Cartoon: ISIS Setbacks http://t.co/ba5CaKCBHe <- full image pic.twitter.com/nU27nfCqYs
— Capitalism Institute (@Cap_Institute) May 21, 2015
Cartoon of the Day: Do You Know What ISIS Is All About? (Via @al_tagreer) pic.twitter.com/PApxEVgMTb
— Carlos Latuff (@LatuffCartoons) May 21, 2015