Iran has rejected France’s claim that two employees of its embassy in Tehran had been intimidated, calling the accusation “baseless and incorrect,” according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Mohammad Tanhayi, head of the Second Western Europe Department at Iran’s foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that the two French nationals attended a meeting on Sunday evening with several security suspects who were under investigation by Iranian authorities.
Citing reports from relevant agencies, he said the two were briefly questioned by security personnel after documents allegedly indicating “anti-security activities” were found at the location.
Tanhayi said the documents are still under review by the Iranian authorities.
He also rejected French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s accusation that the two embassy employees had been physically assaulted.
According to Tanhayi, security personnel transferred them to the diplomatic police headquarters immediately after confirming their affiliation with the French embassy.
He said they were handed over to the embassy after coordination with Iran’s foreign ministry and after speaking with the French ambassador.
Tanhayi accused the two embassy employees of violating Iranian law and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
He said France should answer for what he described as conduct incompatible with diplomatic norms rather than making accusations against Tehran.
The Iranian official also criticised Barrot’s statement that the two employees had been working to support “civil society,” saying the claim amounted to an admission of French interference in Iran’s internal affairs and was inconsistent with the conventional duties of diplomatic missions.
He urged France to refrain from what he described as “interventionist behaviour” and to conduct its relations with Iran in accordance with established international diplomatic norms.
The statement came a day after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Barrot discussed the dispute by phone, following France’s decision to summon Iran’s charge d’affaires over the incident.
During the call, Araghchi protested what he described as the “unconventional actions” of the two French diplomats, while France said the detention and questioning of the embassy employees constituted an “extremely serious” act of intimidation and demanded an investigation into the incident.
