By John Irish
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) – France will summon Iran’s ambassador and take appropriate measures in response after Iranian authorities sealed a French language centre affiliated with its embassy in Tehran, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
“This new attack against France’s cultural presence in Iran, following the assault on two staff members of the French embassy last July, is unjustifiable and unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said in a statement.
Ties between the two countries have been strained for years over Iran’s nuclear programme and Tehran detaining several French nationals.
Although the relationship had improved after their release and Paris distanced itself from the US war against Iran, the situation worsened over the summer after two of its diplomats were arrested and subsequently expelled. France reciprocated.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported earlier on Sunday that authorities had closed the French language centre following a judicial order from the Tehran prosecutor’s office.
IRAN CITES SECURITY CONCERNS
The centre operated for years under the cover of foreign-language teaching despite repeated warnings to obtain a licence, authorities said, accusing it of activities against Iranian culture and national security, including identifying and building networks as well as facilitating the departure of skilled Iranians from the country.
France has previously dismissed such allegations, saying there had been a pattern of intimidation in recent months as Paris sought to increase its support for, and contacts with, Iran’s civil society following a crackdown on protests at the start of this year.
Diplomats said Iran has also been irked by a recent social media post from France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, which triggered protests across the country.
In response on Friday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, called the post “crocodile tears” and accused Paris of slaughtering 1.5 million Algerians during the war of independence.
“Your silence when the U.S. massacred our schoolkids said it all,” he said, referring to a strike in Iran that Tehran believes the US was responsible for.
The two ministers are set to meet on Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
(Reporting by John Irish at the United Nations in New YorkEditing by Nick Zieminski and Matthew Lewis)
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