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Middle East

Iranian Embassy in Paris damaged; Tehran knocks police work

Associated Press
Published | Updated

PARIS – The Iranian Embassy in Paris was damaged Friday by a group of people that a local police official says was made up of "individuals" and Iran's Foreign Ministry has accused of being extremists Saturday while complaining of an allegedly slow and weak response from law enforcement in the French capital.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said protesters tried to attack embassy, the country's official IRNA news agency reported. IRNA quoted ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi saying officers did not arrive quickly after the disturbance was reported.

He said the troublemakers were members of an extremist organization he did not identify, IRNA said.

"It is necessary for the French government to take serious measures to protect Iranian diplomatic missions in that country," Ghasemi said, according to the news agency.

A Paris police spokeswoman gave a somewhat different version Saturday of what transpired on Friday afternoon, when she said "individuals" threw objects and smashed windows at the embassy.

The spokeswoman said the responding officers searched 12 people, but didn't take anyone into custody because embassy personnel didn't want to file a complaint. She provided information about the incident but would not give her name, a common police practice in France.

Ghasemi said some suspects were arrested and Iran has asked the French government to prosecute and punish them, IRNA reported. Tehran is doing its own investigation of the commotion and the allegedly tardy arrival of Paris police, the news agency said.

The Paris police spokesman said she did not have information about the motives or identities of the people outside the embassy.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard last week claimed responsibility for a missile attack targeting an Iraqi base of Kurdish separatist group Party of Democratic Kurdistan of Iran. The Revolutionary Guard said the attack killed at least 11 people and wounded 50.

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Vahdat reported from Tehran. Adamson reported from Paris.