Iranian authorities have ordered the closure of a French-language centre in Tehran, alleging that the embassy-linked institution operated without the necessary approval and conducted activities considered harmful to national security.
Relations between Tehran and Paris have become increasingly strained, despite France remaining outside the war launched against Iran by the United States and Israel in late February and condemning the initial attacks as contrary to international law.
Tensions escalated further in July when Iranian security authorities detained two French diplomats and accused them of interfering in domestic affairs. The diplomats were subsequently expelled. France responded the following month by ordering two Iranian diplomats to leave the country.
Iran’s judiciary announced on Sunday that the Tehran prosecutor’s office had ordered the French Language Centre (CLF) closed.
“Based on the Tehran prosecutor’s office’s order, the illegal center affiliated with the French Embassy in Tehran, which has operated for years under the guise of language instruction, has been closed,” the judiciary’s Mizan news agency said.
Iranian officials alleged that the centre had repeatedly failed to obtain licences required under domestic law despite receiving warnings. Authorities further claimed that some of its operations breached diplomatic conventions.
According to Tehran, French-language teaching was being used as a front for activities designed to advance projects conflicting with Iranian-Islamic culture, establish networks within the country and assist skilled Iranians seeking to leave.
France strongly rejected the move, describing the shutdown as an attack on its cultural activities in Iran and warning that it would respond with “appropriate measures.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also ordered Iran’s ambassador to be summoned.
The CLF provided French-language instruction in Tehran and, according to the French Foreign Ministry, attracted thousands of Iranian students each year.
The dispute follows another cultural confrontation between the two countries. In January 2023, Iran closed the French Institute for Research in Iran after French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo released cartoons targeting then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iran’s religious establishment.
Some of the cartoons were graphic or sexually explicit and had been selected through an international competition titled “Mullahs Get Out,” which was intended to express support for anti-government demonstrations inside Iran.
Image credit: Hosein Charbaghi
