PARIS — The Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Nasser Kanaani slammed France on Monday for what he called its "non-constructive" attitude toward Iran and its "interventionism," arguing that they are hindering negotiations for the release of French nationals imprisoned in the country.

Responding to a question by the press, Kanaani said, "The French government has adopted a non-constructive attitude and shown interventionism in the recent situation of the Islamic Republic. Naturally, the continuation of such actions will not help to settle the issue of prisoners.”

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed Tehran and Washington "reached" an agreement for the release of American prisoners, a statement Washington qualified as a "cruel lie."

Six French people are known to be detained in Iran. They include teacher and activist Cecile Kohler, her partner Jacques Paris, French-Dutch tourism agent Bernard Phelan and tourists Louis Arnaud and Benjamin Bariere. The name of the sixth French person imprisoned in Tehran has not been published. French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, arrested in 2019, was released on Feb. 10.