Abbas Araqchi accused France of killing 1.5 million Algerians during Algeria’s war of independence. (Reuters photo)
The latest dispute was also fuelled by a social media post by French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot marking the fourth anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, whose death in custody in 2022 triggered nationwide protests in Iran.
Iranian authorities accused the centre of operating for years without the required licence and said it had gone beyond language teaching. France has rejected such allegations and said there had been a pattern of intimidation in recent months as Paris increased its support for and contacts with Iranian civil society following a crackdown on protests earlier this year.
Iran has previously accused French institutions and officials of interfering in its internal affairs. The centre was sealed following a judicial order, Tehran’s prosecutor’s office said on Sunday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
He also accused France of killing 1.5 million Algerians during Algeria’s war of independence.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi responded on Friday by calling Barrot’s post “crocodile tears”. “Your silence when the US massacred our schoolkids said it all,” he said, referring to a strike in Iran that Tehran believes the US was responsible for. France said it would summon Iran’s ambassador and take what it described as appropriate measures over the closure. “This new attack against France’s cultural presence in Iran, following the assault on two staff members of the French embassy last July, is unjustifiable and unacceptable,” French foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said in a statement.