Iran on Tuesday denounced criticism of France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, shown in Paris on July 14, as incorrect and unsanctioned. (Mel Langsdon/Reuters)

Iran sought to distance itself Tuesday from harsh remarks by a hard-line newspaper that called France's first lady a "prostitute" for condemning the stoning sentence against an Iranian woman convicted of adultery.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said insulting foreign dignitaries like Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is incorrect and not sanctioned by the government.

The Kayhan daily first called Bruni-Sarkozy a "prostitute" Saturday, repeating its criticism Tuesday with the addition that the French first lady also deserved to die.

In its first public comments on the affair, the French Foreign Ministry said it found the comments unacceptable and had brought the matter up with the Iranians.

"We are making known to Iranian authorities that the insults made by the Kayhan paper and picked up by several Iranian internet sites regarding several French public personalities including Mrs. Sarkozy are unacceptable," said spokesman Bernard Valero at a briefing Tuesday. "We are passing that message through the normal diplomatic channels."

Bruni-Sarkozy opposes woman's stoning

The media attack was in response to an open letter Bruni-Sarkozy wrote to Ashtiani that was printed in several French news outlets last week.

"How to remain silent after learning of the sentence against you?" Bruni-Sarkozy wrote, adding that the stoning would "deeply wound all women, all children, all those who have feelings of humanity."

Ashtiani, 43, a mother of two, could still face execution by stoning or hanging after a final review of her case, her lawyer, Javid Houtan Kian, said Monday.

She was convicted in May 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband and was sentenced to 99 lashes. Later that year, she was convicted of adultery and sentenced to stoning, despite retracting a confession she claimed was made under duress.

Iran stayed her stoning in July, but authorities now say she has also been convicted of being an accomplice in her husband's murder. In a purported confession aired on state TV on Aug. 11, Ashtiani admits to unwittingly playing a role in the 2005 killing. She could also face a separate death sentence in that case.