TEHRAN, Aug. 19– Iran on Tuesday declared two employees of the French embassy in Tehran, whom it had previously accused of engaging in “illegal” activities, persona non grata.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced the move days after the country’s Intelligence Ministry said the two French diplomats had taken part in a secret meeting in Tehran in July with suspects of a “major case involving foreign infiltration and interference.”
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the French diplomats’ activities were “in violation of international law, especially the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.”
The ministry said it declares the two French embassy staff persona non grata, thus prohibiting their entry into Iran, in view of the fact that the French government has not taken any action to rectify their behavior and guarantee the non-recurrence of such conduct weeks after the disclosure of their “illegal behaviors.”
In a post on social media platform X on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reiterated his claim that the two French diplomats had been “scandalously and deliberately” assaulted on July 19, saying in retaliation, the French government will expel two Iranian diplomats from France in the coming days. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
