France, April 12 -- Two men hold a banner with the words "No to war". But one is in a balaclava and is also holding a gallows with a man hanging from it.

"It's difficult to work right now," said the Paris-based artist. "You either get labelled as a lover of the war or of the Islamic Republic."

Three exiled Iranian cartoonists who talked to AFP said they were walking the same thin line, with Sanaz Bagheri - who has been working from Amsterdam for the last seven years - insisting that they "are doing everything we can to be the voice" of those who cannot speak back home.

Artists have used satire throughout Iran's turbulent history to circumvent the threat of persecution. Khamenei and women

Another of Neyestani's drawings ...