Shafaq News- Tehran/ Paris
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot of double standards on Saturday, criticizing him for condemning Tehran’s human rights record while remaining silent over the killing of Iranian schoolchildren in a US strike earlier this year.
“Your silence when the US massacred our schoolkids said it all,” Araghchi told Barrot, referring to the Feb. 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, southern Iran. A UN fact-finding mission reported that more than 150 people, including 120 children, were killed in the attack and found “reasonable grounds” to believe the United States committed war crimes in strikes on the school and another civilian site.
Araghchi also invoked France’s colonial record in Algeria, claiming that 1.5 million Algerians were “slaughtered” during the country’s war of independence and that Paris had recorded fewer than one-tenth of them while refusing to apologize for its “crimes.”
“Stop your crocodile tears,” he added.
1.5mn Algerians were slaughtered by France in their War of Independence. Less than 1/10 of them have been recorded by Paris, which refuses any apology for its colonial crimes. Stop your crocodile tears @jnbarrot. Your silence when the U.S. massacred our schoolkids said it all. https://t.co/IZrp8tCmWg
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) September 19, 2026
Earlier this month, Barrot condemned Iran’s response to anti-government protests and its alleged use of executions, describing the repression as “unbearable and inhumane.” He called for those responsible to be held accountable, political prisoners to be released and Iranians to be allowed to “freely decide their future.”
Sept mois après les crimes de masse commis à l'encontre du peuple iranien qui se levait pour réclamer la justice et la dignité, le régime continue de faire couler le sang en multipliant les exécutions. Cette répression insupportable et inhumaine doit cesser. Ses responsables doivent rendre des comptes. Les prisonniers politiques doivent être libérés. Le peuple iranien doit pouvoir décider librement de son avenir et ses droits fondamentaux doivent être respectés.
— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) August 12, 2026