Iran Summons French Ambassador Over Student Protest Crackdown

By Staff, Agencies

Iran has summoned French Ambassador Pierre Cochard over France’s crackdown on student protesters, demanding that Paris uphold their right to peaceful assembly and investigate reports of excessive police force.

Cochard was summoned to Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, where Hamid Ahmadi, acting director general for human rights affairs, conveyed Tehran’s concerns over the treatment of protesters.

Ahmadi pointed to France’s obligations under international human rights treaties and called on the French government to uphold fundamental rights, including the right to peaceful assembly.

He also urged Paris to investigate reports of excessive force and establish an independent mechanism to examine alleged violations of protesters’ rights.

The Iranian diplomat cited reports of injuries and more than 5,000 arrests during the protests, while expressing concern over reports that police and security forces had entered school premises and classrooms.

The protests, which began in September over deteriorating school facilities, teacher shortages and other education-related grievances, have spread across France.

More than 1,000 schools were affected at the height of the demonstrations, while clashes between protesters and police were reported in several cities.

French authorities said more than 5,000 people were arrested during the unrest, most of them minors. Officials also reported injuries among students, school staff and police officers, while dozens of schools were damaged or disrupted.

Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said violence against police and damage to public property could not be justified. At the same time, he questioned what he described as differences in how protests are viewed in Iran and France.

“The problem is not protest; the problem is the double standard,” Baghaei said. “If human rights and the right to protest are principles, they should not change depending on the geography of the protester.”

The protests began outside a single school in a low-income Paris suburb before spreading nationwide, taking the French government by surprise.

The unrest comes amid rising living costs, with inflation reaching 2.4% year-on-year in August and energy prices rising sharply.

The demonstrations have also taken on a political dimension ahead of France’s presidential election. The government has accused the hard-left France Unbowed party, or LFI, of encouraging the unrest.