💬 Tehran rejects Paris’s claim of intimidation against its staff 📌 Tehran, IRNA — The Ministry of Fo...

💬 Tehran rejects Paris’s claim of intimidation against its staff 📌 Tehran, IRNA — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected the claim of intimidation against French embassy staff and urged France to answer for its interfering behavior in relation to Iran. Mohammad Tanhaei, Director of the Second Western Europe Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dismissed the French Foreign Minister’s claim of intimidation against embassy employees in Tehran as “baseless.” ​ According to the report received from relevant authorities, two French nationals attended a meeting with several security fugitives under investigation on Sunday and were briefly questioned by security agents, he said. ​ At this location, multiple documents indicating anti-security activities were found, which the relevant authorities are currently examining, he added. ​ Tanhaei, rejecting the unfounded claim by the French Foreign Minister that the two individuals were assaulted, said that as soon as law enforcement officers learned of these two individuals’ affiliation with the French embassy in Tehran, they transferred them to the diplomatic police headquarters. After coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and after they contacted the French ambassador, they were handed over to the embassy. ​ He went on to say that the unlawful behavior of the two French embassy staff members violated the laws of the host country and the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. ​ The French foreign minister’s claim that these two staff members were engaged in activities to support civil society confirms France's interfering behavior, which is inconsistent with standard diplomatic missions in Iran. ​ France is obligated to clarify under which international instrument governing diplomatic and consular relations its so-called support for civil society in the host country is legally permissible, Tanhaei said. ​ The French government should not engage in interference in Iran and must adjust its policies toward Iran in accordance with the conventional rules governing relations between states, he stated. ​ Earlier on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot issued a statement claiming that two French diplomats in Tehran had been detained and mistreated. ​ He claimed that the diplomats in question were responsible for establishing cultural contact with the Iranian people and scientists. ​ The French Foreign Ministry also summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Paris on Tuesday. ​ Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart had denounced the conduct of two French diplomats in Tehran as unacceptable, calling on Paris to prevent any recurrence of actions inconsistent with diplomatic norms. ​ He also said compliance with the laws and regulations of the host country, as well as internationally recognized diplomatic principles, is essential for the continued operation of foreign diplomatic missions. ​ The Iranian foreign minister further urged the French government to take the necessary measures to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future. 📲 ​