Paris protests Iranian online campaign
France's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador on Wednesday to protest what spokesperson Pascal Confavreux described as a disinformation campaign run by Iranian authorities targeting France's student protest movement. The ambassador was informed that misleading content spread online by official Iranian foreign ministry accounts was absolutely unacceptable, Confavreux said in a statement. He added that these undignified provocations must stop.[S1][S2]
Tehran had called in French Ambassador Pierre Cochard just a day earlier, objecting to how France dealt with demonstrators. Iran alleged that Paris subjected protesters to violent treatment and committed broad, blatant human rights abuses as the rallies grew stronger last week, with demonstrators and security personnel clashing. France's foreign ministry dismissed the summoning of its envoy as lacking any basis.[S1][S2]
Rights groups criticise French policing
Amnesty International and other rights groups have said French police responded to demonstrators with force that went beyond what was warranted. Officers deployed tear gas, blast balls and batons as they sought to keep the crowds under control during the rallies.[S1]
Tehran's complaints about Paris come after years in which other nations, France among them, have faulted Iran for its own suppression of demonstrators. Iranian security personnel used lethal force early in the year against anti-government rallies that reached their height on January 8-9. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights reports it has documented 4,219 deaths during those protests, nearly all across those two days, while cautioning the real figure is probably much larger. Amnesty has called the crackdown an unprecedented massacre of thousands of protesters and bystanders. Iran labels the protests riots and has stressed that security force members died.[S1]
