France has expelled an Iranian diplomat in response to a failed plot to carry out a bomb attack at a rally near Paris organised by an exiled Iranian opposition group, diplomatic and security sources say. France's foreign ministry said on October 2 there was no doubt the Iranian intelligence ministry had been behind the plot against the June 30 rally. It subsequently froze assets belonging to Tehran's intelligence services and two Iranian nationals.
About a month ago it went a step further, expelling an Iranian diplomat based in Paris, five sources said. Two of the sources said the diplomat was an Iranian intelligence operative under diplomatic cover. A spokesman at the Iranian embassy in Paris did not respond when asked about the diplomat's expulsion. Iran has previously said it had nothing to do with the attempt to carry out a bomb attack at the rally. One Iranian official, who declined to be identified, denied there had been any expulsion.
French President Emmanuel Macron's office referred all enquiries to the foreign ministry, which said it would not comment.
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