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TEHRAN - Khatami's visit to France drew sharp criticism from conservative and hardline newspapers here Friday amid anger at the high-profile protests in Paris by the armed opposition in exile.
"There are certain minor but important points which indicate Paris has exploited Khatami's visit for its own advantage and for tarnishing the image of the Islamic republic," the conservative Tehran Times charged.
The extensive coverage given to the arrest of opposition protestors "did greater service to the (People's) Mujahedeen," the armed opposition, than to Tehran, the paper charged.
"In fact the whole scenario was aimed at publicizing the terrorist organization," the paper said, adding that the incidents would "definitely affect the relations between the two countries."
Another conservative daily, Kayhan, drew unfavorable comparisons with the red carpet reception given to Chinese President Jiang Zemin the previous week.
"The reception was very simple in comparison to the reception of the Chinese president last week even though that was unofficial," the paper complained.
French President Jacques Chirac's invitation to Khatami was "not an honor" for Iran, the paper said.
The hardline Jomhuri-Eslami newspaper
protested that the history of France's relations with Iran was "filled
with a list of their negative activities against the Islamic revolution."
Protesters in Paris Pelt Khatami's Motorcade With Eggs, Agence France Presse, 27 October
PARIS - About 20 demonstrators threw eggs and other projectiles Wednesday at the passing motorcade of Khatami, on his first state visit to France. Police detained the demonstrators.
French authorities have taken drastic
measures against protesters to ensure Khatami's visit goes smoothly, ordering
raids on the offices of dissident movements and tightening border controls
to keep Iranian expatriates out.
Paris Shameful Treatment of Exiles Injures an Iranian Girl, Reuters, October 28
PARIS – Khatami set a decidedly secular tone on Thursday by visiting the Paris Pantheon and honoring the only famous woman buried there.
Undaunted, the dissident National Council of Resistance of Iran kept up its protests against his three-day trip, accusing police of heavy-handed repression against a legal organization in raids on NRC members' homes and headquarters on Wednesday.
Police held some 50 Iranians on Thursday, including one who screamed "Khatami is a terrorist" as Khatami drove in a convoy to the Pantheon. Thirty-nine were detained on Wednesday.
"Khatami is a demagogue. Call Khatami a reformer? Excuse me but that's a total joke," said French NCR head, Saleh Rajavi, who was held by police after the raids. His brother is Massoud Rajavi, head of the Iraq-based resistance Mujahideen Khalq.
Rajavi held a news conference where a young Iranian girl was presented to the cameras to say the very visible stitches on her face were the result of French police intervention.
"Unfortunately, it all looks very much
as if Iran told France how things should be dealt with and France applied
it to the letter," Rajavi added.
French Clamp Down on Iranian Dissidents on Tips from the Regime!, BBC, October 27
Khatami arrived in Paris on Wednesday for a three-day visit, amid protests by human rights activists.
Before his arrival, French authorities cracked down on Iranian opposition groups, tightening border controls and staging dawn raids.
The French police said they were acting
on information from the Iranian authorities.
"A Sad Day for Democracy", Reuters, October 27
PARIS - French police arrested 39 Iranian dissidents early on Wednesday, hours before the arrival in Paris of Khatami, security sources said.
A spokesman in Paris for the National Council of Resistance of Iran said the dissidents were held in pre-dawn raids and police were also blocking the entrance to the Council's headquarters in a north Paris suburb.
"As a means of appeasing the Iranian regime, the French police are arresting our supporters," said Farzin Hashemi. "They want to prevent the demonstration we are holding today."
Iranian dissidents said they had permission for an anti-Khatami rally in central Paris on Wednesday afternoon and had expected to draw 10,000 supporters.
"This is a sad day for democracy and human rights in France, the land of freedom and refuge," the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement. "These actions only serve to appease the mullahs' terrorist, religious dictatorship."