Iran’s foreign minister tells French counterpart: ‘Enough crocodile tears’
Abbas Araghchi criticizes France’s colonial record and its silence over what he described as the killing of Iranian schoolchildren by the United States.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot’s criticism of Iran by condemning France’s colonial record and accusing Paris of silence over what he described as the U.S. killing of Iranian schoolchildren. The claims were reported by Iran’s state-run IRNA and were not independently verified in the supplied evidence.
TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has criticized French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot after Barrot accused Iran of human rights violations, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
In a Saturday post on X, Araghchi said that 1.5 million Algerians were killed by France during Algeria’s war of independence, alleging that Paris has officially recognized fewer than one-tenth of that figure and has continued to refuse to apologize for its colonial crimes.
“Enough crocodile tears, Mr. Barrot,” Araghchi wrote. He also accused France of remaining silent when, according to his account, the United States killed Iranian schoolchildren.
The statements were made in response to what IRNA described as recent human-rights allegations by the French foreign minister.