Iran warns France against interference in internal affairs

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry accused two French diplomats of illegal interference after they allegedly attended a secret meeting involving suspects in a foreign infiltration case. France condemned their detention and alleged mistreatment, while Iran warned against further diplomatic actions violating its domestic laws 

Tehran:  The Iranian Intelligence Ministry warned the French government against “illegal interference” in Iran’s internal affairs.

In a statement on its website, the ministry said on Saturday that two French diplomats took part in a secret meeting in Tehran in July with suspects of a “major case involving foreign infiltration and interference.”

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Following an investigation, it said the diplomats had “extensive records of violations and behaviors in contradiction with Iran’s domestic law and their diplomatic obligations.” The ministry stressed it will not allow foreign diplomats in Iran to engage in “illegal interventionist” actions, warning that any repeat of such conduct would draw “fitting” responses, Xinhua news agency reported.

On July 20, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said two French embassy officials had been detained and mistreated in Tehran. Both were “detained for several hours without reason, interrogated, and one of them was physically abused” before they were able to return to the embassy, he said.

They were now safe and expected to return to France within hours, Barrot added. “The assault is all the more shocking given these two officials oversee our programmes supporting civil society, particularly Iranian artists and scientists,” he said.

In a statement, he called the incident “shocking,” adding he had warned Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi that the “serious and unacceptable” incident “cannot go without consequences”.

Araghchi later protested in a phone call with Barrot, saying the two French diplomats’ “unconventional” actions “contradicted diplomatic norms and were unacceptable.”