France to expel two Iranian diplomats in coming days, foreign minister says
PARIS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - France will expel two Iranian diplomats in the coming days in response to an incident in July involving two staff of the French embassy in Tehran.
"I had announced that this intolerable act would have consequences. And so it has. Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the very near future," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a post on X.
Last month, the French ministry said the two French embassy staff had been detained and physically intimidated by Iranian security services in Tehran.
Barrot had summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Paris in protest following the incident on July 19.
Barrot's comments came one day after the Iranian ministry said two French embassy employees, who were involved in July in a diplomatic dispute in Tehran, would not be allowed to return to Iran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the two French staff had violated the Vienna Convention — which defines the rules and privileges of diplomatic missions — by engaging in activities supporting Iranian civil society.
French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said in a statement that "the Iranian authorities have chosen to make completely false accusations against our agents and to fabricate a case of interference to justify their actions."
(Reporting by Inti LandauroEditing by Rod Nickel)
