Iran Accuses France of Double Standards Over Right to Protest

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused France on Tuesday of applying double standards to the right to protest, contrasting its calls for restraint in Iran with its response to student demonstrations at home.

In a French-language post on X, Baghaei questioned why French officials invoke human rights when discussing protests in Iran while describing unrest in France as “urban violence.”

“The problem is not protest; the problem is double standards,” he wrote. “If human rights and the right to demonstrate are universal principles, their definition should not change depending on the protester’s geography.”

Baghaei recalled that France had called on Iran in January 2026 to guarantee the right to peaceful demonstrations without fear of reprisals and to exercise restraint in responding to protests.

He also said the French foreign minister had described the events in Iran as a “peaceful revolt,” despite what Baghaei said were calls for an uprising from abroad and reports of armed attacks against Iranian security facilities and personnel.

Turning to France’s response to its own student demonstrations, Baghaei said French authorities were using a markedly different approach.

He argued that the French interior minister had been less inclined to call for restraint, instead advocating rapid intervention and the use of force to restore order.

He also pointed to French government claims of “political manipulation” and involvement by far-left movements, questioning why similar conduct and principles were interpreted differently depending on whether protesters were in Iran or France.

Baghaei stressed that violence against police, deliberate arson and damage to public property could not be justified, acknowledging the state’s responsibility to maintain and restore public order.

His criticism, he said, focused on what he described as a contradiction in the way these principles are applied.

The post was accompanied by a graphic contrasting French statements about demonstrations in Iran with France’s response to protests at home, under the caption, “Double standards?”