France to expel two Iranian diplomats as arrests row heightens

Paris will expel two Iranian diplomats posted in France in retaliation for Iran banning two French diplomats in the embassy in Tehran, the French foreign minister said on Tuesday.

"Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days," Jean-Noël Barrot said on X, adding the move was a consequence of the "intolerable" treatment of the French diplomats who were briefly arrested last month in Iran over accusations of "interference".

The Iranian foreign ministry on Monday said it had informed France that the two French diplomats would not be allowed to return to Iran.

Barrot on July 20 said the pair – one of whom was the cultural attaché – had the night before been targeted by Iranian officials, who detained and questioned them over several hours, "in flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity".

He said they had suffered "an extremely serious act of intimidation" at the hands of Iran's security service, with one of them physically abused.

"It is precisely because France stands shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people, supporting their artists, scientists and researchers, that two French diplomats were scandalously and deliberately attacked on July 19," Barrot said on Tuesday.

The Iranian authorities have denied any mistreatment, saying the diplomats had only been briefly questioned and that they had "interfered in Iran's internal affairs under the pretext of engaging with civil society".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)