Iran calls France diplomat expulsions illegal

Iran's foreign ministry said Monday that France's decision to expel two Iranian diplomats was illegal, after Paris acted in response to Tehran's ban on two French diplomats.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a weekly press conference that France's action was an illegal response to what he called Iran's legal action. He said the French move was “in no way helpful to bilateral relations”.

Baqaei said last week that two French diplomats who were briefly arrested in Iran in July over alleged “interference” in Iran's internal affairs would not be allowed to return.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot responded by saying that two Iranian diplomats in France would be expelled “in the coming days”. He said the move followed what he called “intolerable” treatment of the French diplomats, who were briefly detained in Tehran last month.

Barrot said the French pair had been targeted by Iranian officials “in flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity” and had faced “an extremely serious act of intimidation” by Iran's security service.

Baqaei had previously said Paris should apologise for the French diplomats' alleged actions, which he said violated the Vienna Convention.