Overview
- The French foreign minister announced Tuesday that two Iranian diplomats posted in France will be expelled in the coming days in retaliation for an incident involving French embassy staff in Tehran.
- France says two embassy employees were detained, questioned for hours and one was physically abused during a July 19 meeting in Tehran tied to a cultural project.
- Iran has formally barred the two French staff from returning to Tehran and its intelligence ministry says a probe found the diplomats were part of a planned scheme of foreign interference, a claim Paris rejects as fabricated.
- Supporters of Iranian graphic designers Aria Kasaei and Elly Naghilou say the pair were arrested on July 19 during the same meeting and remain held, raising concerns about the safety of artists and cultural partners.
- The dispute centers on competing readings of the Vienna Convention and could sharply restrict cultural exchanges and research ties between France and Iran while adding to wider tensions after a recent crackdown on Iranian civil society.