AKP Phnom Penh, 19 August, 2026--
France will expel two Iranian diplomats posted in France in response to the detention and questioning of two French diplomats by Iranian security services, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
Barrot said in a post on social media platform X that two French diplomats were "scandalously and deliberately assaulted" on July 19, adding that two Iranian diplomats in France would be expelled in the coming days in response.
Two staff members of the French Embassy in Iran were detained and questioned for several hours by Iranian security services on the evening of July 19, Barrot said in a post on July 20.
He said he had informed the Iranian foreign minister that the "very serious and unacceptable" violation of the integrity of French personnel could not remain without consequences.
On July 21, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi protested what he described as the "unconventional" actions of two French diplomats who were reportedly detained in Tehran on July 19, during a phone call with his French counterpart.
The Iranian Intelligence Ministry on Saturday warned the French government against what it called "illegal interference" in Iran's internal affairs. It said two French diplomats had taken part in a secret meeting in Tehran in July with suspects in a "major case involving foreign infiltration and interference."

AKP-Xinhua