TEHRAN -- Iran on Sunday lashed out at the French government over its violent crackdown on protests against a controversial pension reform plan, saying Paris lectures others about respecting human rights it is a stranger to.
In a tweet, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani posted a video showing the French police use of force against the people, who had taken to the streets to vent their anger at President Emmanuel Macron’s overhaul of the country’s pension system.
“The practical lesson of the French police to others in respecting human rights and honoring the rights of protesters,” he wrote.
“This is an example of respecting human rights and honoring the rights of protesters in the ‘European Garden’!”
Kanaani was referring to controversial remarks by European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who described Europe as a “garden” while banishing the rest of the world as “a jungle” that could “invade the garden.”
Borrell remarks prompted strong rebuke, with some saying that the so-called “garden” was built through “barbaric plundering” of the “jungle”.
On Saturday night, the French Senate approved the reform package, bringing it another step closer to becoming law.
The approval came hours after nationwide