Education

France Summons Iran Envoy Over Language Center Closure

Is closing the French language school a cheap attack on culture and learning or is Iran simply enforcing its own licensing laws?

SEP 21·Updated SEP 22

France Summons Iran Envoy Over Language Center Closure

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Above: Jean-Noël Barrot speaks during a Security Council meeting at the U.N. Headquarters, April 27. Image credit: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Getty Images

The Facts

Iran's ambassador to France, Mohammad Amin-Nejad, was due to meet senior French foreign ministry officials on Monday to explain the closure of the French Language Center in Tehran, which French officials said was entered by Iranian security forces.
Shafaq News
RFI
Iranian authorities sealed the French Language Center on Sunday following a judicial order from the Tehran prosecutor's office, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. The judiciary said the site had operated for years under the guise of language instruction.
France24.com
Le Monde
Reuters
Iranian officials said the center continued operating without a required license despite repeated warnings and accused it of acting against Iranian-Islamic culture and national security by networking with elites and easing their departure abroad.
Anadolu Agency
Tasnim News Agency
France's foreign ministry said it would summon Iran's ambassador at the request of Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Spokesman Pascal Confavreux called the closure "unjustifiable and unacceptable" and said Paris would take appropriate measures.
The New Arab
Al Jazeera
The center has operated in Tehran for more than 20 years, offering courses, a media library and the official DELF and DALF examinations, certifications required by applicants seeking admission to French-speaking universities.
RFI
Iranwire
Barrot and Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi are set to meet Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Araqchi on Friday called a Barrot post marking the fourth anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death "crocodile tears."
The National
The Times of India
Dw.Com

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Shutting down a French language school is a cheap shot at culture and learning, and it fits a pattern of harassment that already saw French embassy staff grabbed and one of them beaten. Punishing teachers and students because Paris speaks up is unjustifiable and deserves a firm response. Summoning the ambassador is the least Paris should do after expelling two Iranian diplomats.

Le Monde

France24.com

Mario Nawfal on X

Narrative B

Any foreign-run institute must register and hold a license, and this one brushed off repeated warnings for years while hiding behind language instruction. The Vienna Convention does not hand an embassy a pass to ignore Iranian law or to scout out elites and help them leave the country. Enforcing a judicial order on an unlicensed operation is basic sovereignty.