Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has posted an open letter to Western youth on his website, asking them to ‘gain direct and first-hand knowledge’ about Islam instead of information based on ‘resentments and prejudices.’ It might be the first time a senior Islamic cleric has directly addressed the youth of the West about his religion. The letter was posted just two weeks after the 7 January attacks by Islamist extremists in Paris. Part of the letter says, ‘I don’t insist that you accept my reading or any other reading of Islam. What I want to say is: Don’t allow the extremists this dynamic and effective reality in today’s world to be introduced to you through resentments and prejudices. Don’t allow them to hypocritically introduce their own recruited terrorists as representatives of Islam. Gain information about Islam through the Qur’an.’