Iran has accused police in Paris of failing to respond quickly to what it called an attack against its embassy in the French capital by Kurdish activists.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on September 15 that the attack occurred a day earlier, “with a number of arrests” made.
“The French government should take all necessary measures to protect Iranian diplomatic missions in that country,” ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi was quoted as saying by the official government news agency IRNA.
“Unfortunately, the French police did not arrive as expected on the scene on time, although the assailants were members of a terrorist organization,” he added.
But at the same time Qassemi said that several people have been arrested for the attack.
“The attack saw 15 Komala terrorists hurling stones and debris, spray-painting graffiti, breaking several windows and slightly damaging the diplomatic facility’s façade on Friday evening, September 14", the state-run Radio and TV news network (IRIB) reported on Saturday.
However, a Kurdish activist based in Paris told Radio Farda that he is not aware of Komala members being involved in the attack. Komala, for its part, has not yet commented on the allegation.
The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that about 15 Kurdish activists burned the Iranian flag in front of the embassy during the incident and broke some windows with stones.
Reuters reported that police in Paris confirmed an incident at the embassy, but declined to comment on the speed of their response.
Iran has accused France of supporting opposition groups seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic. France has rejected the allegations.
The assembly was organized by France based Kurdish societies to protest recent Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ missile attack on the headquarters of Kurdistan Democratic party of Iran (KDPI) in northern Iraq and execution of three young Kurdish political activists.
The Kurdish source, on condition of anonymity, also said that the assembly was held under French police surveillance, ended at 2:45 pm and the participants, 150-200 persons, dispersed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired seven missiles last week at the headquarters in northern Iraq of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), an armed opposition group that fights for more autonomy for Iran’s Kurdish community. Iranian media have reported that at least 11 people were killed in the attacks.