The Iranian government on Sunday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of making “regrettable and shameful” statements about the ongoing protests in Iran, even regarding them as incitement to violence.
Macron on Friday received four Iranian activists in Paris, on the sidelines of the Peace Forum, and praised the “revolution they are leading” in Iran.
“It is a flagrant violation of France’s international responsibilities in the fight against terrorism and violence and we believe it promotes these sinister phenomena,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani, quoted by the French agency AFP.
Iran has been the scene of protests since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman who had been arrested three days earlier by vice squad for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
The protest, which began as a rejection of dress restrictions imposed on women after the young woman’s death, has evolved into a movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights, based in Oslo, announced on Saturday that the crackdown on the protests has caused 326 deaths.
The previous balance released by the same organization, which has a network of informers in Iran, was 304 dead.
The delegation that received Macron included Masih Alinejad, an Iranian activist from New York who encourages Iranian women to protest against the mandatory headscarf.
Macron paid the activists “respect and admiration in the context of the revolution they are leading,” according to AFP.
“Matron’s statements about his support for this so-called revolution led by these people are regrettable and shameful,” said Kanani.
Referring specifically to Masih Alinejad, the spokesman said it was “surprising that the president of a country that claims freedom would stoop to meeting a hated person”.
Kanani accused the New York-based activist of “spreading hatred and committing violent and terrorist acts in Iran and against Iranian diplomatic missions abroad.”
Source: DN
