France slammed on Thursday Iran’s summoning of the French ambassador to Tehran, Nicolas Roche, to its foreign ministry.
“The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs deplores the Iranian authorities’ summoning of France’s ambassador to Tehran on Nov. 30, in response to the National Assembly’s adoption of a resolution on Nov.28 expressing its support for freedom in Iran,” the statement read.
“Once again, France condemns the current crackdown and the multiple attacks on basic freedoms in Iran in the strongest possible terms.”
It reiterated that the protestors’ desire for greater freedom and the respect of their rights are legitimate and must be heard.
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Roche on Wednesday following a unanimous vote by lawmakers in Paris earlier this week condemning infringement of liberties and women's rights, state media said.
The ambassador heard Iran’s “strong protest against the baseless accusations” and “unacceptable interventions” in Iran’s internal affairs, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Legislators in France’s National Assembly unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution supporting the protesters.
The measure strongly condemns what French lawmakers call “the brutal and generalized repression by the security forces ... toward non-violent demonstrators, which constitutes a blatant and unacceptable violation of the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression.”
It also denounces laws and rules restricting the rights of women and minorities in Iran. It calls for the release of seven French citizens detained in Iran, too.
During the debate on the resolution in the French parliament on Monday, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned “the Iranian regime's massive use of arbitrary detention, censorship, and violence.”
She said Iran was responding with “repression” to the “legitimate aspirations of Iranian women and men.”
On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia in November, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Tehran's “increasing aggressiveness” towards France through “unacceptable” hostage-taking and called on Tehran to return to calm and the spirit of cooperation.
