The French foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest against a "disinformation campaign conducted by the Iranian authorities" over high school protests that have rocked France. The ambassador was told "the misleading content disseminated online" by official accounts of the Iranian foreign ministry was "absolutely unacceptable", the ministry said in a statement, after Tehran on Tuesday summoned the French ambassador over the treatment of protesters in France. Iran accused France of "violent treatment" of the protesters and "extensive and flagrant human rights violations" during the demonstrations, which intensified last week and have seen clashes between demonstrators and the security forces. But the French foreign ministry said that the summoning of its ambassador to Tehran was "baseless". Rights groups including Amnesty International have accused French authorities of using disproportionate force against protesters, with police firing tear gas and blast balls and using batons to control crowds. Iran's anger over events in France came after Iranian security forces used deadly force earlier this year to crack down on anti-government protests that peaked on January 8-9. Rights groups have said thousands were killed and organizations, including Amnesty, have accused Iranian security forces of directly firing on protesters. Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights says it has identified 4,219 people killed during the protests -- almost all on January 8-9 -- but has warned the toll is likely far higher. Amnesty has described the Iran crackdown as the "unprecedented massacres of thousands of protesters and bystanders". Iran has termed the protests as "riots" and emphasized the deaths of members of the security forces.
