ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Monday described Paris’s stance on the closure of the French Language Center (CLF), affiliated with the French Embassy in Tehran, as “absolutely unacceptable,” calling the center’s activities “illegal” and stressing that the diplomatic mission can not be exempt from the country’s laws and regulations.

On Sunday, Iran closed the CLF in Tehran, accusing it of conducting activities that were “threatening national security,” undermining the country’s cultural norms, and facilitating the identification and departure of Iranian elites from the country.

France’s foreign ministry soon after condemned the incident in the “strongest possible terms,” noting that “this latest attack against French cultural activities in Iran, following the assault on two French embassy staff members last July, is unjustifiable and unacceptable,” read a statement.

“France will take appropriate measures in response,” it added.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday rebuked Paris’ remarks, describing the center’s activities as “illegal” and saying the embassy expected to “be exempted from the laws and regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” citing previous warnings issued to the center and adding that such an expectation “is absolutely unacceptable,” read a statement.

“Iran strongly rejects the baseless and untrue claims” regarding the closure of the center, the ministry statement added.

In July, France said that two officials from its embassy in Tehran were detained by Iranian security forces "without reason" for several hours and interrogated, claiming that one of them was "assaulted,” with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot describing the incident as an "extremely serious" act of intimidation by Tehran.

Tehran later denied the allegations as “baseless and false,” claiming that they were involved in a meeting with “security suspects.”

In April, two French nationals who had been detained in Iran for more than three years were released. Tehran allowed them to leave the country under an agreement with Paris to withdraw its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The pair were sentenced to 31 and 32 years' imprisonment in October by Iran’s judiciary on charges of spying for French intelligence, cooperation with Israel, and compromising the country's security.

The two French academics were held in Iranian custody after being detained in 2022 during a trip to the country, at a time when Iran was witnessing one of its largest nationwide uprisings following the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini in police custody, known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement.

Tehran has frequently accused European nationals traveling to Iran of espionage or fomenting unrest, allegations that critics say are part of a broader pattern of Iran’s hostage diplomacy.