French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the decision was in response to what he described as unacceptable actions by Iranian authorities.
“I had announced that this unacceptable action would have consequences, and it has. Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled very soon,” Barrot said.
Last month, France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that two employees of its embassy in Iran had been detained and threatened by Iranian security forces in Tehran.
Following the incident on July 19, Barrot summoned Iran’s acting chargé d’affaires in France to seek explanations over the circumstances surrounding the detention.
The latest move comes a day after Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the two French embassy staff members would not be allowed to return to Iran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the two French nationals had violated the Vienna Convention, which sets out the rules governing diplomatic relations and the rights and obligations of diplomatic representatives.
Baghaei accused the French staff members of taking part in activities aimed at supporting Iranian civil society, allegations France has rejected.
French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said Iran had “chosen to make completely unfounded accusations against our staff and to fabricate an issue of interference in internal affairs in order to justify its actions.”
The diplomatic dispute adds to tensions between France and Iran, with both sides taking retaliatory measures against each other over the treatment and activities of their diplomatic personnel.
