Iran criticizes French police for reaction to attack on embassy

LONDON - Iran said on Saturday that Kurdish activists attacked its embassy in Paris and it accused French police of arriving late on the scene.

Paris police confirmed officers had responded to an incident at the embassy on Friday afternoon, but declined to comment on the speed of their response.

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.

They also threw fire extinguishers and computers at the gate but did not manage to enter the premises, Fars said.

"The French government should take all necessary measures to protect Iranian diplomatic missions in that country," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, the French police did not arrive as expected on the scene on time, although the assailants were members of a terrorist organization," he said.

A Paris police spokeswoman said "individuals" threw objects and smashed windows at the embassy. She said she did not have information about the motives or identities of the people outside 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 declined to give her name, a common police practice in France.

However, Qasemi said Iran has asked France to put on trial and punish the assailants, and to inform the Iranian government of the verdicts.

Teheran has accused France of supporting opposition groups which seek the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and are classified by Teheran as terrorist organizations. France has rejected such accusations.

Last week, Iran's Revolutionary Guards fired seven missiles at the headquarters in northern Iraq of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, an armed opposition group that fights for greater autonomy for Iran's Kurdish community.

Iranian media said at least 11 people were killed.

France is also investigating a foiled plot to bomb a rally held by an exiled Iranian opposition group near Paris that was attended by US President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani on June 30.

An Iranian diplomat was arrested in Germany in connection with that plot.

Reuters - AP

(China Daily 09/17/2018 page12)