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Tehran rejects France’s ‘baseless’ allegations over embassy staff
The exchange followed an incident involving two French diplomatic staff in the Iranian capital. France has said the two diplomats were briefly detained and mistreated while carrying out cultural outreach duties, while Iran says they were found attending a meeting with individuals wanted on security-related charges before being released to the French Embassy, Press TV reported.
Mohammad Tanhaei, head of the Second Western Europe Department at Iran's Foreign Ministry, said reports from the relevant Iranian authorities showed that two French nationals attended a meeting on Sunday evening with several security suspects who were being pursued by Iranian authorities.
According to Tanhaei, the two individuals were questioned for a short time by Iranian security personnel after attending the meeting. He said multiple documents indicating "anti-security activities" were found at the location and that the relevant authorities were examining them.
Tanhaei rejected the French foreign minister's "false" allegation that the two individuals had been beaten.
He said that once law enforcement officers learned the pair were affiliated with the French Embassy in Tehran, they transferred them to the diplomatic police headquarters and, after coordinating with the Foreign Ministry and allowing them to contact the French ambassador, handed them over to the embassy.
He said the conduct of the two French Embassy employees violated the laws of the host state and the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Rather than making a "forward escape," France's foreign minister should answer for the conduct of the two embassy employees, Tanhaei said.
France's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Paris over the incident.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart on Tuesday, protested the "unconventional" conduct of two French diplomats in Tehran, calling their actions unacceptable.
Araghchi said compliance with the laws and regulations of the host country and adherence to recognized diplomatic principles and norms are essential for the continued operation of foreign diplomatic missions, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.