Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani reacted to statements by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot concerning United Nations sanctions. Kanaani criticized the French minister's intrusive remarks regarding Iran's nuclear program and regional influence.
In a French-language post on the social media platform X, Kanaani said, "Mr. Minister, it seems hypocrisy and duplicity continue to be defining characteristics of French political culture to this day."
Reference to Molière's 'Tartuffe'
The Iranian spokesperson referenced the 1664 work 'Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite' by French playwright Molière. Kanaani stated, "The same flaw that Molière accurately depicted in his 1664 play 'Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite': 'Hypocrisy has become a fashionable vice.'"
Kanaani recalled that Paris remained silent when Iranian cities were attacked, arguing that French officials effectively sided with the aggressors during the latest American-Israeli attacks targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Accusation of Silence and Collaboration
The Iranian diplomat said, "While Iranian cities were mercilessly bombed and innocent Iranians were brutally massacred in Minab, Tehran, Lamard, Isfahan, and elsewhere, you remained silent and in fact collaborated with the aggressors."
According to Kanaani, the French government therefore selectively invokes so-called "human rights concerns" for political purposes. The spokesperson stated, "Today, in line with your regime's political interests, your conscience has suddenly and selectively awakened, and you are shamelessly preaching about human rights! What hypocrisy and what duplicity!"
These remarks came after French diplomat Barrot stated that Paris would oppose the lifting of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran as long as negotiations with the Islamic Republic did not meet France's desires regarding the country's peaceful nuclear energy program. Barrot had also made similar intrusive remarks about Iran's defense missile program and regional influence.
