Iran summons ambassador after France condemns 'repression'

Iran's foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador on Wednesday following a unanimous vote by lawmakers in Paris earlier this week condemning infringement of liberties and women's rights, state media said.

The Islamic Republic has been gripped by protests since the 16 September death in custody of Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress code for women. Amini's Kurdish first name can be spelt "Zhina" or "Jina".

During the debate on the resolution in the French parliament on Monday, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned "the Iranian regime's massive use of arbitrary detention, censorship, violence".

She said Iran was responding with "repression" to the "legitimate aspirations of Iranian women and men".

On Wednesday, French ambassador Nicolas Roche heard Iran's "strong protest against the baseless accusations" and "unacceptable interventions", the official Iranian IRNA news agency reported.

The French resolution "condemns in the strongest terms the brutal and widespread repression" of "non-violent protesters".

It also "demands the immediate release of seven French nationals who have been arbitrarily detained".

Iran has accused Western countries, including France, of stoking the unrest that has rocked the country.