Iran summons French ambassador to condemn national day crackdown

TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry Thursday summoned French ambassador to Iran in protest against crackdown on people on the eve of National Day in France, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned French ambassador Francois Nicoullaud in Tehran, strongly condemning the crackdown, according to the report.

Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that "such acts in a country claiming to be a supporter of human rights are unacceptable."

The French ambassador, for his part, said that he will inform his country's officials of Iran's protest and views.

On Tuesday, "the early hours of France's National celebration were marked with the burning of more than 300 vehicles and attacks that left more than a dozen police injured," Paris police said.

The riots were driven by some French citizens who complained they were victims of high rates of unemployment and the failure of the central government to effectively bring ethnic minorities into the French mainstream.

Bastille Day, on July 14, is the anniversary of the start of the French Revolution when the Bastille prison was stormed in 1789.The following events led to the establishment of France.