The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, announced this Tuesday the upcoming departure from the country of two Iranian diplomats, declared 'persona non grata'. The measure, which will be executed "in the coming days," is framed as a direct response to the detention of two members of the French diplomatic staff in Iran on July 19.
"Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days," the head of French diplomacy indicated on his social networks, describing the episode that motivates it as an "intolerable" act.
Barrot recalled that he had already warned that the detention of two workers from the French Embassy in Tehran "would have consequences." "So it has been," he emphasized, referring to the diplomatic retaliation now announced.
The minister explained that "precisely because France stands by the Iranian people, supporting its artists, scientists, and researchers, two French diplomats were scandalously and deliberately assaulted on July 19," an incident that Paris considers unacceptable.
At the same time, he lamented that "the Iranian people are the main victims of this period of extreme tension in the Middle East, caught between the bloody repression of the protests of January 2026 and the bombings," placing the case in a context of strong regional instability.
The French Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the two Iranian representatives have been formally declared 'persona non grata', a decision that was communicated this Tuesday to the Iranian ambassador, Mohamad Amin-Nejad, summoned to the ministry's headquarters in Paris.
In a statement, French diplomacy reproached the Iranian authorities that "instead of clarifying this premeditated and deliberate attack, punishing those responsible and (...) ensuring the safety of our facilities and personnel," they have launched "totally false accusations" against the French agents and built "a case of interference to justify their actions."
France had already called the Iranian chargé d'affaires on July 21 to convey a formal protest regarding what happened two days earlier, which Paris described as an act of "extremely serious intimidation."
In response, the Iranian government has opted for a similar countermeasure, also declaring two French officials 'non grata', according to a note released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry and reported by the state television IRIB.
According to the Iranian portfolio, this decision, which entails a ban on entry into Iranian territory, is adopted "in light of the activities contrary to international law" attributed to the French diplomats and, especially, because France "has not taken any measures to rectify its behavior and ensure that such conduct does not happen again".