French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Tuesday, August 18, that France will expel two diplomats from the Islamic Republic in the coming days in response to a “deliberate and shameful attack” on two French diplomats in Iran.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Barrot stated that the Iranian people are the “primary victims” of heightened tensions in the Middle East, caught between state repression and military bombardments.
The French Foreign Minister added that French diplomats were targeted by the Islamic Republic precisely because of their support for the Iranian people and their backing of Iranian artists, scientists, and researchers.
He emphasized that he had previously promised that this action would carry consequences.
“It has been done,” Barrot wrote. “Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days.”
This decision follows Iran’s announcement on Monday that two French embassy employees involved in the diplomatic dispute would not be permitted to return to Iran. Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that these individuals had violated the Vienna Convention through activities supporting Iranian civil society.
France had previously disclosed that two members of its embassy in Tehran were detained and interrogated for several hours by Iranian security forces in late July. Paris condemned the act as a breach of diplomatic immunity.
Following that incident, Barrot warned that Iran’s actions would not go unanswered, and Paris has now implemented its reciprocal response with the announced expulsion of the two Iranian diplomats.