France Summons Iranian Ambassador Back to Paris
France is the latest country to take action after the attack on the British embassy in Iran, requesting its Iran ambassador return to Paris to discuss the incident.
On Tuesday, protesters convened outside the British embassy burning a British flag and yelling “Death to England” and “Death to Israel.” The protests were formed as a response to new sanctions enforced by Britain following the release of an International Atomic Energy Agency report that indicated Iran was building a nuclear weapon.
France's foreign ministry said in a statement the country was forced to act "in the face of this flagrant and unacceptable violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and the gravity of the violence."
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the world "must heavily sanction Iran" for the attack. He suggested to French ministers an embargo be put on oil exports and a sanction on an Iranian central bank holdings, according to The Associated Press.
Norway also decided to shut its embassy down in response to the attack. Norway's foreign ministry spokesperson Hilde Steinfeld said the Norway government is considering removing its diplomats.
"We are continuously evaluating the situation...it has been evaluated, but for now no such measure has been taken," said Steinfeld to the AFP.
Earlier today, the United Kingdom ordered Iran to get all of its diplomats out of Britain within the next 48 hours. Britain also removed all of its diplomats from Iran.
The moves symbolize a strained relationship between Iran and the West. Iran has continuously said they are not seeking nuclear capability to build a weapon, but a recent IAEA report shows otherwise.
