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French Hard-Left MP Suspended for Waving Palestinian Flag in Parliament

French leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party member of parliament Sebastien Delogu waves a Palestinian national flag during a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly in Paris on May 28, 2024. (AFP)
French leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party member of parliament Sebastien Delogu waves a Palestinian national flag during a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly in Paris on May 28, 2024. (AFP)
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French Hard-Left MP Suspended for Waving Palestinian Flag in Parliament

French leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party member of parliament Sebastien Delogu waves a Palestinian national flag during a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly in Paris on May 28, 2024. (AFP)
French leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party member of parliament Sebastien Delogu waves a Palestinian national flag during a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly in Paris on May 28, 2024. (AFP)

France's lower house of parliament on Tuesday suspended a deputy from the hard-left Les Insoumis (LFI) party for 15 days for waving a Palestinian flag in the National Assembly, bringing proceedings to a halt for about an hour.

"This is not tolerable," National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet said as she suspended the session and excluded deputy Sebastien Delogu whose deputy's pay was also halved for two months.

Delogu waved the flag in support of Palestinians amid a barrage of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The war has polarized public opinion around the world with France's LFI positioning itself as a defender of the Palestinians.

"I waved the Palestinian flag in the National Assembly ... because as I speak, France sells weapons, sells parts to supply the Israeli army," Delogu told reporters. "There is a genocide going on there."

The incident took place as junior trade minister Franck Riester was answering a question about the situation in Gaza, where Israel's offensive against Hamas has stirred global condemnation for the high civilian toll. 

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Iran's President Says Tehran Has to Deal with Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran's President Says Tehran Has to Deal with Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will not be able to ignore its arch-foe the United States and needs to "handle its enemies with forbearance", state media reported on Tuesday, a week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

"Whether we like it or not, we will have to deal with the US in the regional and international arenas, so it is better to manage this relation ourselves," Pezeshkian, who is viewed as relatively moderate, said.

"We have to treat our friends with generosity and handle our enemies with forbearance."

In 2018, then-President Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and re-imposed harsh sanctions as part of his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran.

While there have been no reports that the Trump administration plans to hold talks with Tehran after it takes office in January, the President-elect said during his election campaign "I don't want to do damage to Iran but they cannot have nuclear weapons."

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the nuclear deal were initiated under the administration of US President Joe Biden, but failed. Iran is still formally part of the deal but has scaled back commitments to honor it due to US sanctions re-imposed on Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said Iran will pursue whatever secures its interest, when asked if there could be direct talks with the Trump administration.

She cautioned that the final decision for talks rests with the top political figure Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council.

"The maximum pressure campaign of Trump has failed, even if people have been burdened by it. What is important will be actions and not words, but we recommend Trump to take into account the failure of his past policies," Mohajerani added.