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French President Emmanuel Macron expresses it during his visit to Guava on the island of Guadeloupe on Friday, September 28, 2018, during a trip to the French West Indies.
(Thomas Samson, Pool via AP)
One of the objectives of the new French crackdown on money paid to the Iranian intelligence services is a diplomat suspected of attempting to attack an Iranian group in exile, according to officials.
The French government has also frozen funds from the internal security section of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and another Iranian national.
The decision to cut funds to the diplomat was "preventive, focused and proportionate," said the French Foreign Ministry. Officials emphasized their determination to fight terrorism, especially on its own soil.
An attempt to attack the group of Iranian exiles was to take place at a rally on June 30 near Paris, officials said.
"An incident of such gravity on our national territory can not go unpunished," officials said in a statement, according to the Reuters news agency.
The move comes as 200 police officers have invaded the Zahra center, a Shia Islamic center, and the homes of its leaders in the port city of Dunkirk, in the city of France 24. The leaders of the Islamic center have allegedly been suspected of supporting "terrorist organizations".
The police monitored the activities of the center "because of the strong support of its leaders to several terrorist organizations and for movements supporting ideas contrary to the values" of France, according to France 24.
It is unclear whether the freezing of assets and the raid on the Islamic center were linked.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
