Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday that France was meddling in his country's affairs and taking a confrontational approach toward the Islamic Republic as tensions between the two sides worsen.
In a phone call with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna, the Iranian minister warned that Tehran's response will be "immediate and effective," according to a report by the government-run IRNA news agency. Amir-Abdollahian claimed that Paris was "instigating riots" in Iran, using the state's verbiage for the ongoing anti-government protests in the country that were sparked in mid-September by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of hijab-enforcing police.