Iran summons French envoy in diplomatic row over ‘insulting’ Cannes remarks

Iran summoned France’s envoy in Tehran to protest in opposition to “insulting” remarks made by the French international minister after an Iranian filmmaker gained the highest prize on the Cannes Film Festival.

Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the prestigious Palme d’Or for his film It Was Just an Accident on Saturday, a political drama impressed by his time in jail.

Following the win, French international minister Jean-Noël Barrot mentioned Panahi’s win was “a gesture of resistance in opposition to the Iranian regime’s oppression”.

This sparked a diplomatic row, with Iran’s international ministry spokesperson Mohammad Tanhaei calling the feedback “insulting remarks and unfounded allegations”, state media reported.

During the assembly with the French envoy, Tanhaei known as Barrot’s feedback “blatant interference” within the nation’s inside affairs, in keeping with the identical report from Iran’s PressTV.

He described the congratulatory message as “irresponsible and provocative”, including that France had “no ethical authority in any respect” to touch upon Iran, citing what he known as France’s failure to help Palestinians in Gaza.

He demanded an official rationalization from the French authorities, and the envoy mentioned he would relay the message to Paris.

Panahi has been out and in of jail lately for his outspoken criticism of the Iranian institution.

He spent seven months of a six-year sentence in jail earlier than being launched in February 2023.

He had beforehand been sentenced to 6 years in 2010 for supporting anti-government protests and creating “propaganda in opposition to the system”, serving two months on that event.

As effectively as his jail phrases, he was given a 20-year ban on making motion pictures and travelling exterior his personal nation.

Despite this, he filmed It Was Just An Accident, in secret in Iran.

The movie follows 5 extraordinary Iranians as they confront a person they imagine tortured them in jail – characters drawn from conversations Panahi had with fellow inmates about “the violence and brutality of the Iranian authorities”.

During his acceptance speech, he urged fellow Iranians to “be part of forces”.

“No-one ought to dare inform us what sort of garments we must always put on, what we must always do, or what we must always not do.”

Soon after the ceremony, his first look at a global movie pageant in 15 years, he instructed reporters he could be returning to Tehran.

“As quickly as I end my work right here I’ll return to Iran,” he instructed reporters in Cannes. “And I’ll ask myself what’s my subsequent movie going to be.”