France and Iran Expel Each Other's Diplomats Amid Accusations of Interference
France will expel two Iranian diplomats in the coming days in response to what it has called a deliberate attack on two French diplomats in Iran last month. Iran has retaliated against France by expelling two Paris diplomats.
“Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X, as reported by Anadolu Agency on Wednesday (19/8/2026).
Barrot said two French diplomats had been “shamefully and deliberately attacked” on 19 July, while reiterating that he had announced that this “intolerable action” would lead to consequences.
On 19 July, according to Paris, Iran “brutally arrested” two French diplomats in connection with activities allegedly carried out “under the cover of diplomatic missions and embassies.” Iran maintains that such activities cannot be justified under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The European Union, as well as France, condemned Tehran’s alleged attack on the French diplomats. Iran subsequently detained the diplomats on charges of planning “foreign influence and interference” targeting the country’s “independence.”
Responding to Paris, Iran declared two French diplomats persona non grata and barred them from entering the country due to alleged “illegal activities,” according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The two diplomats working at the French Embassy in Tehran were involved in “illegal activities and behaviour that violate international law, particularly the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the ministry statement said.
The ministry stated that it had decided to designate the diplomats as persona non grata and ban them from entering Iran several weeks after the alleged activities came to light.
“The French government has not taken any steps to prevent the recurrence of such actions,” the statement read.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence stated on 15 August that two French diplomats had been detained at the site of a secret meeting as part of a national security investigation.
The ministry alleged that documents and other materials found at the site pointed to a broad plan to build influence within Iran. The ministry also mentioned that several documents bore the signature of the former French ambassador to Tehran.