France summons Iran Charge d'Affaires after Paris alleges 'serious intimidation' of diplomats in Tehran
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "France summons Iran Charge d'Affaires after Paris alleges 'serious intimidation' of diplomats in Tehran")
France's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot. Photograph: (AFP)
France summoned Iran's Charge d'Affaires after alleging that Iranian security services detained, interrogated and assaulted two French Embassy staffers in Tehran, warning of repercussions over the incident.
France has summoned Iran's Charge d'Affaires over what it described as an "extremely serious act of intimidation" against two French Embassy staffers in Tehran. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the incident took place on Sunday, when Iranian security services allegedly detained and interrogated the two diplomats. One of them was reportedly assaulted.
The ministry said Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot's Secretary-General summoned Iran's Charge d'Affaires on Tuesday and strongly condemned the incident.
"He was informed that we condemned this premeditated, deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms. It was a flagrant violation of international law and the Vienna Conventions, signed by Iran, which guarantee the protection of diplomatic personnel and form the basis of relations between countries," the ministry said.
France also warned that the incident would have "repercussions" and demanded that Iranian authorities investigate the matter, punish those responsible and ensure the safety of French diplomatic facilities and personnel.
The development came after Barrot said the two French Embassy agents were held for several hours without explanation and questioned by Iranian security services. He said one of them was also assaulted before both returned safely to the French Embassy.
"On Sunday evening, two agents from the French Embassy in Iran were the target of an extremely serious intimidation action by Iranian security services, in flagrant violation of the diplomatic immunities they enjoy," Barrot wrote in a post on X.
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The two diplomats have since been brought back to France, according to the Foreign Minister.
Barrot said the incident was particularly shocking because the two officials were working on programmes supporting Iranian civil society, including artists and scientists.
"This aggression is all the more shocking in that these two agents carry out our programs of support for civil society and in particular for Iranian artists and scientists. I congratulated them for their courage in carrying out their mission, which places France at the forefront of support for the Iranian people, whom we will not abandon," he wrote.
Barrot also expressed solidarity with the diplomats and informed his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, that the incident could not go without consequences.
"I informed the Iranian Foreign Minister that this extremely serious and unacceptable violation of the integrity of our agents cannot go without consequences," he added.
Iran has not yet publicly responded to the allegations or taken accountability for the incident.
