On Sunday, September 20, Iranian security forces invaded the premises of the French Language Center (CLF) in Tehran, an establishment affiliated with the French embassy, the closure of which was ordered by the Iranian courts. According to the agency Reuterswhich quotes the Iranian news agency Tasnimthe Tehran public prosecutor’s office accuses the establishment of having carried out its activities without having the necessary authorizations, despite several formal notices. He also accuses him of having used the teaching of French to carry out activities contrary to Iranian culture and national security.
Iranian authorities claim in particular that the center would have sought to identify people and build networks among the country’s elites, while facilitating the departure of qualified Iranians abroad. These accusations, relayed by the press agency of the Iranian judiciary Mizanare not accompanied by any evidence made public. Iranian justice considers that the establishment would have diverted its linguistic vocation to carry out activities foreign to its status.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted immediately. In a press release published on September 20, the Quai d’Orsay condemns the intrusion of Iranian security forces and describes the closure of the establishment as“unjustifiable and unacceptable”. Paris announces that “appropriate measures” will be taken and that the Iranian ambassador to France will be summoned, at the request of Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. The nature of these measures was not specified.
An establishment created twenty-two years ago
The closure concerns one of the main instruments of French linguistic and academic cooperation in Iran. Created in 2004 to take over the activities of the former French Institute of Tehran, closed after the 1979 revolution, the CLF had to give up using the name French Institute, at the request of the Iranian authorities. He had already been forced to suspend his activities in December 2011, due to lack of administrative authorization, before resuming his classes in July 2013. Final authorization was finally granted to him in October 2014, according to a report from the French Senate published in 2015. It is unknown whether this authorization was still valid in September 2026 or if new formalities were required.
The French Language Center in Tehran.
© Zahra Hasani
The establishment welcomes several thousand Iranians each year, according to the Quai d’Orsay. In addition to French courses, it organizes language exams and certifications, including DELF and TCF, and offers training for teachers. It also has a media library which had around 21,000 titles in 2015. The center finally hosts a Campus France space, responsible for informing and supporting Iranian students wishing to continue their studies in French higher education.
A precedent in 2023
This decision comes three years after the closure of another French cultural establishment in Tehran. On January 5, 2023, the Iranian authorities announced the cessation of the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran (IFRI), in retaliation for the publication by Charlie Hebdo of caricatures of supreme guide Ali Khamenei.
Founded in 1983 by the merger of the French archaeological delegation in Iran, created in 1897, and the French Institute of Iranology in Tehran, founded in 1947, IFRI specialized in research in the human and social sciences, particularly in archaeology, history and art history.
The closure of the CLF comes in a context of new Franco-Iranian tensions. On August 18, Paris announced the expulsion of two agents from the Iranian embassy in France, in reaction to an intervention by the Iranian security services against two members of French diplomatic staff, which occurred on July 19 in Tehran. The Iranian authorities had accused the two French people of interference in the country’s internal affairs, accusations contested by Paris.
The dispute has continued in recent days on social networks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly criticized a message from his French counterpart dedicated to the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, which occurred in September 2022. According to Reutersthe two ministers must nevertheless meet on Tuesday September 22, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The closure of the cultural center could be among the topics discussed during this interview.
