Tehran knocks police work after Iranian embassy in Paris attacked

Protesters threw objects and smashed windows of the embassy

A French security officer takes a photograph outside the Iranian Embassy in Paris on September 14, 2018, after protesters sprayed red paint on the Embassy sign and trashed computers that were placed oShow more

France must do more to protect Iranian diplomats in Paris, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Tehran said after demonstrators smashed windows and damaged the embassy in a protest on Friday.

Fars news agency reported that about 15 Kurdish activists burned the Iranian flag in front of the embassy during the incident and broke some windows with stones.

They also threw fire extinguishers and computers at the gate

However, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the incident was led by "extremists", and said the response from local police had been weak and slow.

French police declined to comment on the speed of their response, though claimed the embassy's security detail had since been increased.

Mr Ghasemi told Iranian state-run IRNA that French officers did not arrive quickly after the disturbance was reported

Iran's Foreign Ministry said protesters tried to attack embassy Friday, the country's official IRNA news agency reported. IRNA quoted ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying officers did not arrive quickly after the disturbance was reported at the embassy in the Chaillot quarter of central Paris.

"It is necessary for the French government to take serious measures to protect Iranian diplomatic missions in that country," Mr Ghasemi said, according to the news agency.

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However, a Paris spokeswoman said the responding officers searched 12 people but didn't take anyone into custody as embassy personnel didn't want to file a complaint. She did not mention the police response time and declined to give her name, a common police practice in France.

Mr Ghasemi said some suspects had been arrested and that Iran had asked the French government to prosecute and punish them, IRNA reported. Tehran is also undertaking its own investigation into the commotion and the poor response time by Paris police, the news agency said.