Two French diplomats were held for several hours Sunday evening in Tehran by Iranian security services. Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the incident an extremely serious act of intimidation and warned that it will not remain without consequence.
The two French embassy agents were detained without reason, interrogated and one of them was molested, according to a statement from Jean-Noël Barrot sent to AFP. The incident took place in violation of diplomatic immunities.
The diplomats are now safe at the embassy and are due to return to France in the coming hours. Barrot expressed support for the agents and informed his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi of the seriousness of the violation.
The minister stressed that the two diplomats support programs for Iranian civil society, notably for artists and scientists. He described the aggression as shocking and inadmissible.