TEHRAN— Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks against Iran as “meddlesome,” saying the accusations against Iran encourage violence mongers and lawbreakers.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Macron’s allegations regarding latest developments in Iran are politically motivated. 

Kanaani also noted that Iran’s Constitution recognizes the right to peaceful gatherings, expressing surprise that the French president and some other officials in the European country are condemning security forces for dealing with acts of violence on the part of rioters and are urging the Iranian government to avoid resorting to force to end violence.

He stressed that this comes as the French officials, including the government spokesman, in response to a strike in the country’s oil and gas sector threaten the workers and say if they do not end the strike, authorities would end it by force.

Workers of French oil and gas giants have gone on strikes in the past two weeks, demanding salary increases amid a cost-of-living crisis. French officials have warned they would move to end the strikes.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman called Macron’s remarks about Iran and France’s inattention to French workers as “flagrant hypocrisy,” stating that this once again proves that human rights only serve as a tool in the hands of many self-proclaimed defenders of democracy in the West to achieve their political goals and meddle in the internal affairs of other countries.

In remarks to IRNA on Friday, Kanaani pointed to the French authorities’ threat to forcibly end the strikes, saying this should be addressed by the media. 

“Labor strikes in France’s oil and gas sector and the French authorities’ threat to use force in order to put an end to the strikes deserve media coverage,” Kanaani said.