Tehran rejects Paris’s claims about the arrest of two French diplomats

Authorities in Tehran have categorically rejected the accusations made by Paris regarding the treatment of two French diplomats, clarifying that they were questioned for a short time and immediately afterwards were returned to the French embassy.

Mohammad Tanhaei, an official of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told the state news agency Tasnim that during the inspection procedure, documents were confiscated which, according to the Iranian side, are related to activities against the country’s security and are now being examined by the relevant bodies.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, had a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, where he described the actions of the diplomats in question as “unusual and far from professional standards.”

Meanwhile, France’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Iranian embassy to demand accountability for the incident. Minister Jean-Noel Barrot emphasized that both diplomats were held without any justification for several hours and that one of them suffered physical violence during the detention.

These claims were described by Tehran as “baseless allegations.” Tanhaei added that as soon as it was verified that the detained persons were part of the staff of the French Embassy in the Iranian capital, they were handed over to the diplomatic police and later delivered to the embassy, in full cooperation with Iran’s Foreign Ministry.