PARIS: France’s foreign minister said Monday that Algerian authorities gave 12 French state officials 48 hours to leave the country.

Jean-Noel Barrot denounced the decision, saying it appeared as “a response to the arrest of three Algerian nationals suspected of serious offenses on French soil.”

French counterterrorism prosecutors said the Algerians were arrested Friday and handed preliminary charges of “kidnapping or arbitrary detention … in connection with a terrorist undertaking.” They are allegedly involved in the April 2024 kidnapping of an Algerian influencer, Amir Boukhors, or Amir DZ, a known critic of the Algerian government with 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

An Algerian consular official is among the three arrested, according to French media.

Barrot called on Algerian authorities “to abandon” measures to expel the French officials “who have no connection with the current legal proceedings,” in a written statement.

“If the decision to send back our officials is maintained, we will have no other choice but to respond immediately,” Barrot said.

In an interview with French national news broadcaster France Television, Boukhors said he was abducted in April 2024 in a Paris suburb and released 27 hours later.

He said he saw a car in front of his home, with four people he said were acting like false police officers. Some wore police armbands and put him in handcuffs. They brought him to a remote place in the Paris region. “That’s when I felt and confirmed that they were kidnappers. I had fallen into the trap,” he said.

He was told he would be meeting an Algerian official, which never happened, and was later released, the influencer said.

According to French media, Boukhors lives in France since 2016 and was granted the status of political refugee in 2023.

Relations between France and Algeria sharply deteriorated last summer when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, which receives support from Algiers and is based in refugee camps in southeastern Algeria.

Tensions further peaked after Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who is an outspoken critic of Islamism and the Algerian regime, in November. He has since been sentenced to five years in prison.

However, tensions started easing in the past two weeks, following a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune during which they both agreed to revive bilateral relations, according to a statement by the Elysee Palace.

Barrot traveled to Algeria earlier this month, a visit meant to show the diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries.

Tehran: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Moscow this week to discuss recent nuclear negotiations with the United States held in Oman, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, ahead of a new round of talks planned for Rome.
On Saturday, Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, the highest-level Iranian-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.
“Dr. Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week,” said spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that the trip was “pre-planned” and would be “an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks.”
Iran and the United States separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive.”
The negotiations came weeks after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
Russia, a close ally of Iran, and China have held discussions with Iran in recent weeks over its nuclear program.
Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe.”
Another round of talks between Iran and the United States is scheduled for Saturday, April 19.
Iran has yet to confirm the location but the Dutch foreign minister and diplomatic sources said that the upcoming discussions would be held in the Italian capital.
The official IRNA news agency reported that they would be held in Europe, without elaborating.
Baqaei said the next set of talks would continue to be indirect with Omani mediation, adding that direct talks were “not effective” and “not useful.”
He had previously said that the only focus of the upcoming talks would be “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions,” and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue.”
Late Sunday, IRNA reported that Tehran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its “red lines” in the talks.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, Washington withdrew from the 2015 agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Tehran.
Iran continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal but later began rolling back its compliance.
Iran has consistently denied that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Baqaei reiterated that Iran would host United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in the coming days but noted that the details of his trip were still “to be decided on.”
In a post on X, Grossi confirmed that he would be heading to Tehran “later this week.”
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” he said.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency last visited Iran in November when he held talks with top officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian.
In its latest quarterly report in February, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, which far exceeds the 3.67 percent limit set under the 2015 deal and is much closer to the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

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