Two employees of France's Embassy in Tehran were detained by Iranian intelligence services, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Monday.

"They were detained without cause for several hours, questioned, and one of them was subjected to ill-treatment. They were eventually returned to the embassy, where they are now safe," the foreign minister said in a post on X, The Caspian Post reports.

Barrot said the diplomats are expected to return to France in the coming hours. He described the incident as an "act of intimidation" and a "violation of diplomatic immunity."

The minister clarified that the detained employees had been carrying out French civil society support programs in Iran.

"I have informed the Iranian Foreign Minister that this extremely serious and unacceptable attack on the integrity of our agents will not go unpunished," Barrot said.