France has accused Iran of assaulting two French diplomats and is expelling two embassy staff from the Islamic Republic in response, the French Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The diplomats have been declared personae non gratae and are to leave France within the coming days, France's top diplomat Jean-Noël Barrot said.
Barrot announced around a month ago that two French diplomats had been detained by Iranian security forces for several hours. One of them was also harassed, he said. The foreign minister described the incident as an "extremely serious act of intimidation" that violated diplomatic immunity.
The two embassy staff members were responsible for programmes supporting Iranian civil society, particularly with regard to artists and researchers.
The French Foreign Ministry accused Iran in a statement of having failed to investigate the assault and punish those responsible. Instead, false accusations had been made against the two French embassy staff members, the ministry said.
Iran denied the assault, according to French reports. The French diplomats had merely been briefly questioned after they had attended a meeting with individuals being sought by the authorities, Iran said.
Following a brief stay in France, Iran barred the two diplomats from returning to the country, French media reported.
Relations between Tehran and Paris have been strained for some time.