Iranians in France
Encyclopedia
Iranians in France form one of the smaller communities of Iranians outside of Iran
Iranian citizens abroad
The term Iranians abroad or Iranian diaspora refers to the Iranian people born in Iran but living outside of Iran with their children.As of 2010, there are an estimated four to five million Iranians living abroad, mostly in North America, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey, Australia and the...

.

Early 20th century

France was a popular destination for Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

 (Iranian) international student
International student
According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country in accordance to their own national...

s in the early 20th century. The first government-sponsored Persian students, a group of 20, all went to France in 1926. In 1932, the government drew up a competitive examination to determine the distribution of government scholarships to aspiring international students; 110 out of the 125 students who passed the examination went to France, making them the overwhelming majority of all Persian students abroad. Another 66 chose France as their destination the following year. Aside from government-sponsored students, there were also 537 privately-financed Persian students living in France in 1934, nearly half of the total 1,165 privately-financed international students. However, in 1938, a governmental decree prohibited students from going abroad on private funds to pursue degrees. The Iranians students in France lived in dormitories on their school campuses, unlike students in Germany who rented private accommodations by themselves; this meant that they were often subject to surveillance by officials from the Iranian embassy, and prevented the growth of anti-Pahlavi
Pahlavi dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi (reg. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty ...

 activism among them. Germany, rather than France, would thus become the major European centre of Persian dissent in the 1930s.

Notable Iranians who studied in France include Mehdi Bazargan
Mehdi Bazargan
Mehdi Bazargan was a prominent Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Iran's interim government, making him Iran's first prime minister after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. He was the head of the first engineering department of Tehran University...

, the first Iranian to pass the entrance examination to any of the grandes écoles
Grandes écoles
The grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...

; he went on to become prime minister of Iran
Prime Minister of Iran
Prime Minister of Iran was a political post in Iran that had existed during several different periods of time starting with the Qajar era until its most recent revival from 1979 to 1989 following the Iranian Revolution.-Prime Ministers of Qajar era:In the Qajar era, prime ministers were known by...

 after the 1979 Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...

.

After the Iranian Revolution

Today, Iranians in France consist primarily of "political emigrants", who left Iran immediately after the revolution, because their association with communists, monarchists, or other opposition groups put them in danger, and "socio-cultural emigrants"—especially women and youths—who had little political affiliation but left Iran more slowly in the years following the revolution due to despair over the future of Iranian society. France expelled some of the political migrants, including Massoud Rajavi
Massoud Rajavi
Massoud Rajavi , is the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the leader of People's Mujahedin of Iran , an opposition organization active inside and outside of Iran. After leaving Iran in 1981, he resided in France and Iraq...

 and his People's Mujahedin of Iran
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mujahedin of Iran is a terrorist militant organization that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran....

, in an effort to improve relations with Iran and secure the release of French hostages held by pro-Iranian forces in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

.

Iranians in France:>
Year 1975 1980 1990 2003 2004 2006 2009
Persons 3,300 13,193 15,209 11,609 10,974 ~15,000
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