Returning with Signs of Injury... Detention of Two French Diplomats in Tehran Sparks New Crisis

The two French diplomats returned to Paris, while one of them still bears signs of injury on his forehead after being detained for hours inside Tehran.

The incident quickly turned into a new diplomatic crisis between Paris and Tehran, after France accused Iranian authorities of assaulting one of its embassy employees, while Iran justified its intervention by suspecting the diplomats of engaging in activities that affect national security.

What happened?

According to the French account, reported by the newspaper "Le Monde," elements of Iranian intelligence, on the 19th of July, stopped two employees of the French embassy while they were in a private location in the capital Tehran, before subjecting them to interrogation that lasted about 4 hours.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that one of the diplomats was beaten, describing what happened as a "dangerous and deliberate act," and stressing that "this intimidating act will not pass without consequences."

Following the incident, Paris summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires for a formal protest. Tehran, however, denied any physical violence.

Mohammad Tanaei, Director of the Western Europe Department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the diplomats were holding "a meeting with people accused in cases affecting national security," and that their detention was only for a short period, claiming that documents related to activities "affecting national security" were seized.

The official Iranian news agency (IRNA) also described the French accusations as "baseless."

A precedent in French-Iranian relations

"Le Monde" sees that what happened constitutes a precedent in relations between the two countries, as foreign diplomats in Iran have previously been subjected to harassment or intimidation, but direct physical assault on a French diplomat has never happened before.

Those close to the victim believe that the French cultural advisor was targeted because of his activity in strengthening relations with Iranian society. One French diplomat says: "He only did his job as a cultural advisor, i.e., building bridges between France and Iranian society, and this is what angered the regime."

Why did Tehran escalate?

Paris links this escalation to the state of tension that the Iranian regime is experiencing internally and externally. On the one hand, the authorities still recall the protests of last January, which erupted against the backdrop of the economic crisis and were met with widespread repression. On the other hand, the American and Israeli strikes that followed did not topple the regime as some of its opponents expected.

"Le Monde" considers that the regime's survival despite these pressures has strengthened its sense of arrogance and overconfidence, along with rising obsessions about a Western conspiracy.

In this context, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, during a phone call with his French counterpart, described the diplomats' behavior as "unusual," in a justification that Paris saw as an attempt to legitimize what one of them was subjected to.

Is the "hostage-taking" policy returning?

French concern is not limited to the assault incident but extends to the possibility of Tehran returning to using foreign nationals as a diplomatic pressure card. This comes a few months after the release of the French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who spent more than three and a half years detained in Iran.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot affirms that France is "one of the countries most supportive of Iranian civil society, and it is paying the price for this commitment," noting that Tehran previously accused Paris, at the beginning of this year, of supporting and arming Iranian protesters, accusations that France officially denied and demanded be withdrawn without response.

At the time when the two French diplomats returned to Paris, Britain had begun evacuating its embassy staff from Tehran against the backdrop of escalating regional tension, while France kept the rest of its diplomatic staff in their positions, in an indication of its insistence on maintaining its diplomatic presence despite the crisis.