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Monday, July 20, 2026
France says Iran ‘seriously intimidated’ two French diplomats, ‘physically abused’ one of them

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot at the Place de la Concorde before the start of the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
Two French diplomats in Iran suffered “an extremely serious act of intimidation” by the Islamic Republic’s security services, with one of them physically abused, France’s foreign minister says.
Jean-Noel Barrot says in a statement sent to AFP that the two diplomats were targeted by the Iranian officials last night “in flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity.”
Both were “detained for several hours without reason, interrogated and one of them was physically abused” before they were able to return to the embassy, he says.
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