French Foreign Ministry Summons Iranian Chargé d'Affaires in Protest Against Intimidation of French Diplomats

Paris, July 21 (KUNA) -- The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Paris today, Tuesday, to protest the intimidation tactics targeting two French diplomats in Tehran. The ministry said in a statement that “at the request of the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, the Secretary-General of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chargé d’Affaires today in response to the extremely dangerous acts of intimidation targeting two staff members of the French Embassy in Iran on July 19.” The statement added that the Chargé d’Affaires was informed of France’s strong condemnation of this “deliberate and premeditated” attack, describing it as a blatant violation of international law and the Vienna Conventions to which Iran is a party, which guarantee the security of diplomats and form the basis of relations between states. It noted that the Chargé d’Affaires was also reminded that “this dangerous and unacceptable incident cannot go without consequences,” as Minister Barrot informed his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Monday. The statement emphasized that France expects the Iranian authorities to clarify the circumstances of this incident, punish those responsible, and ensure the safety of its diplomats in accordance with Tehran’s international obligations. Barrot had announced on the social media platform X yesterday that two officials of the French Embassy in Iran were detained and questioned by security agencies, describing the incident as “an extremely dangerous act of intimidation” that constitutes a blatant violation of diplomatic immunity. He said the officials were detained “without any justification” for several hours and subjected to questioning, adding that one of them “was subjected to physical mistreatment” before they were able to return to the embassy premises. He affirmed that he had informed his Iranian counterpart that this dangerous and unacceptable violation of the safety of French diplomats “will not go without consequences.” (End) M.B. / M.A.A.