Iran summons French envoy over minister’s ‘meddlesome’ Cannes remarks
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the French chargé d’affaires to Tehran to protest meddlesome remarks by the country’s foreign minister after an Iranian film won an award at the Cannes film festival.
Following French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot’s “insulting remarks and unfounded allegations,” Head of the Second Department for Western Europe at Iran’s Foreign Ministry Mohammad Tanhaei summoned the diplomat on Sunday.
During the meeting, Tanhaei said the allegations leveled by the French minister were a “blatant interference in Iran’s internal affairs.”
He condemned “irresponsible and provocative” comments and called on the French Foreign Ministry to give an official explanation in this regard.
The Iranian diplomat also condemned the French government’s exploitation of the cinematic event to advance its own political objectives against Iran.
“The French government, as one of the main supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) in the continuation of gross violation of human rights and humanitarian law, particularly the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, has no moral authority at all to make human rights claims and accuse others,” Tanhaei emphasized.
The French diplomat, for his part, said he will convey Tehran’s protest to his government.
Iranian Director Jafar Panahi’s film, It Was Just an Accident, has been awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.
In an interfering comment, the French foreign minister said in a French post on his X account that the film would reignite “hope for freedom fighters around the world.”
