A German political cartoonist has been threatened with death after publishing a caricature in which the Iranian national soccer team wear belts of explosives next to German soldiers. Klaus Stuttmann, whose caricature was published in the Friday edition of the leading Tagesspiegel daily, says the cartoon came in response to politicians who called for soldiers guarding this summer's soccer World Cup in Germany. The paper says Stuttmann received hundreds of hate mails and death threats from Iranian soccer fans after the cartoon was published on their site. The Iranian Embassy in Germany also protested by sending him a letter. "We regret the Iranian reaction, which we can only explain as due to a lack of understanding of the political debate within Germany," the paper wrote Tuesday. "Of course neither Mr. Stuttmann nor the Tagesspiegel wanted to question the integrity of the Iranian soccer players." The news comes amid tensions over cartoons depicting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which were published in European media and outraged thousands of Muslims.

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