“A shocking attack”: Jean-Noël Barrot denounces an “intimidation action” against two French diplomats in Iran

It is an event “which cannot remain without consequences”, denounced the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, on his X account, this Monday July 20 afternoon. The reason for his anger? Two agents from the French embassy in Iran were “the target of extremely serious intimidation” by Iranian security forces on the evening of Sunday July 19.

“Detained without reason for several hours, questioned and, for one of them, molested, they were finally able to reach the embassy where they are now safe awaiting their return to France in the coming hours,” explains the head of French diplomacy on the social network.

The boss of the Quai d’Orsay criticizes “an extremely serious action of intimidation on the part of the Iranian security services, in flagrant violation of the diplomatic immunities from which they benefit.”

“This attack is all the more shocking as these two agents carry our support programs for civil society and in particular for Iranian artists and scientists,” he added, specifying that he had “congratulated” the two agents for their “courage” and provided “all (his) support” to the French ambassador to Iran.

Iran said this Monday, July 20, that it was facing a “total war” with the United States, which struck a large part of its territory overnight, on the ninth consecutive day of hostilities of unprecedented intensity since the April ceasefire.