Iran summons French envoy over FM's 'unacceptable' remarks

TEHRAN: The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Nicolas Roche, the French ambassador to Tehran, over the French Foreign Minister's "unacceptable" remarks in France's National Assembly.

In the meeting, the Iranian side strongly protested against the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna's "baseless accusations", and criticised some European countries for their "instrumental double-standard approaches" to human rights, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry stressed that those countries do not possess "legitimacy and eligibility" to make human rights claims given their "unilateral and coercive methods, which also violate the sovereignty of other countries".

Colonna addressed a session of the French legislative body on Monday, during which she said the situation in Iran "requires action, with responsibility", adding that the European Union is working to impose new sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Also in the session, French lawmakers passed a resolution to condemn Iran's response to the protests in the country after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in a Tehran hospital on September 16, a few days after collapsing at a police station.

Protests have erupted in Iran since Amini's death. Tehran has blamed the US and some other countries for "inciting riots and supporting terrorists" in Iran.