Closure of French language centre in Tehran prompts row between France and Iran

According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, Tehran prosecutor's office said the closure followed a court ruling.

"Based on the Tehran prosecutor's office, the illegal centre affiliated with the French embassy in Tehran, which has operated for years under the guise of language instruction, was closed," the judiciary's Mizan news website said.

The judiciary said the centre had been conducting illegal acts that violated diplomatic conventions.

It also accused the centre of having abused its status as a language training facility by trying to identify and build networks among the country's elite figures and facilitating their departure.

France condemns 'intrusion'

France hit out at the decision. "France condemns in the strongest possible terms the intrusion by Iranian security forces into the premises of the French Language Centre in Tehran, as well as the announcement by the Iranian authorities of the centre's closure," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"This latest attack against France's cultural presence in Iran, which follows the assault on two French embassy staff members last July, is unjustifiable," added Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux.

Iran's ambassador to France, Mohammad Amin-Nejad, was due to meet top foreign ministry officials on Monday to explain the decision.

Open for more than 20 years in Tehran, according to its official website, the centre has become one of Iran's main French-language teaching institutions. It offered French courses, hosted examinations and boasted a media library.

The closure comes amid strained relations between the two countries.

France to expel two Iranian diplomats amid growing 'interference' row

In July, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot accused Tehran of detaining two French diplomats without reason for several hours. He said one of them had been assaulted.

Iran denounced what it called misleading claims and accused France of interfering in its domestic affairs under the pretext of engaging with civil society.

The Iranian authorities subsequently banned the two diplomats from working in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaïl Baghaï said the ​two ‌staff had violated the Vienna Convention  – which ⁠defines the rules and privileges of diplomatic missions –  by engaging in activities supporting ‌Iranian civil society.

"Insisting that these individuals were engaged ⁠in activities related to supporting civil society is itself an admission that the Vienna Convention ​was violated," Baghaei said.

In retaliation, France expelled two diplomats from the Iranian embassy in Paris.

Meetings in New York

This week, Barrot and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, also clashed on social media over the human rights situation in Iran and France's colonial past.

The two ministers are due to meet on Tuesday at the United Nations, which is holding its annual General Assembly in New York.

President Emmanuel Macron is also expected to meet his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, in New York.

(With newswires)