France to expel two Iranian diplomats over July Tehran incident

France will expel two Iranian diplomats in the coming days in direct response to the detention and intimidation of two French embassy staff members in Tehran last month, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced.

In a post on X, Barrot stated: “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.”

He added that the decision had been formally notified to Iran’s ambassador, who was summoned to the Quai d’Orsay.

The move comes one day after Tehran declared the two French diplomats persona non grata and barred them from returning.

The original incident occurred on the evening of July 19.

French authorities say Iranian security services detained the two embassy staff—one of them the cultural attaché—for several hours without justification.

Their phones were confiscated, they were denied contact with the embassy, they were interrogated, and one was physically abused.

Barrot described it at the time as “an extremely serious act of intimidation” carried out “in flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity.”

He later characterized the episode as a “serious” and “premeditated” action in which one diplomat was “manhandled,” “brutalized” and “beaten.”

Iran has rejected the French account.

Officials said the diplomats were only briefly questioned after meeting individuals under investigation for national-security reasons and that no mistreatment occurred.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei later accused the pair of violating the Vienna Convention by engaging in activities that supported Iranian civil society, framing it as interference in internal affairs.

“Insisting that these individuals were engaged in activities related to supporting civil society is itself an admission that the Vienna Convention was violated,” Baghaei said.

Tehran’s intelligence ministry further claimed the diplomats had taken part in a secret meeting linked to foreign infiltration.

Paris has dismissed these claims as fabrications.

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux stated 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.”

The diplomats, he said, were acting in a professional capacity, meeting a supplier for the embassy in connection with cultural programs.

Barrot said on Tuesday: “It is precisely because France stands shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people, supporting their artists, scientists and researchers, that two French diplomats were scandalously and deliberately attacked on 19 July.”

The meeting has been linked to the Villa Zadig cultural-exchange and residency program run by the French embassy’s cultural service.

Relatives of two Iranian graphic designers, Aria Kasaei, 46, and Elly Naghilou, 36, told AFP that the pair were arrested on the same day during the gathering and remain in detention.

The European Union also condemned the July incident, with foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas calling it an “aggression” that constituted “a blatant violation of the Vienna Conventions.”

The reciprocal expulsions mark a further deterioration in already strained France-Iran relations.

France has long positioned itself as a supporter of Iranian civil society, artists and researchers, while Tehran remains highly sensitive to any perceived Western meddling in its internal affairs.