Iran and Russia are trying to use the French protests to intensify the political crisis. This conclusion was reached by journalists from the British The Times, who published an investigation on October 21, 2026, citing researchers and sources in intelligence structures. However, the wave of demonstrations itself began for internal reasons: the French took to the streets due to school problems, the high cost of living, and dissatisfaction with the government.
Author: Victoria Katsman
The protests began in September with student demonstrations against the lack of teachers and poor learning conditions. Then the demands expanded: rising living costs, fuel prices, social inequality. On October 17, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. The French Ministry of the Interior estimated the number of participants at about 550,000, while the CGT union estimated it at 800,000. Most demonstrations were peaceful, but in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Limoges, there were arson attacks and assaults on public buildings. Reuters reports that authorities announced more than 1,200 arrests.
Among the participants were also the “yellow vests” — a movement that began protests against fuel taxes back in 2018. On October 20, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu acknowledged miscalculations in the authorities’ actions during the unrest. The government is preparing additional security measures ahead of the next actions.
What France presented to Iran
On October 7, the French Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador. In a published statement, the ministry directly accused Tehran of spreading false messages about school protests through official accounts of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The day before, Iran itself summoned the French ambassador. This is no longer anonymous intelligence information, but an open diplomatic accusation. However, the statement itself does not disclose specific examples of false messages.
The Times also presents more serious accusations. Franco-Iranian journalist Emmanuel Razavi claims that people associated with the Iranian regime could have paid certain unemployed young people to participate in violent actions. Researchers also talk about attempts to infiltrate radical political groups and promote materials through Telegram and bloggers. Among the alleged organizers of such operations is “Al-Quds” — a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for Iran’s overseas operations.
However, neither payments to riot participants nor orders from Tehran have been publicly presented by journalists. The presence of Iranian propaganda does not mean that Iranian intelligence services controlled the protesters.
The report that was not shown to the public
On October 16, the French publication La Lettre reported that the SGDSN, a government structure on national security issues, and the Viginum service, which monitors foreign digital interference, prepared a report on Iranian activity on the internet. According to the publication, specialists and diplomats advocated for the publication of the materials, but President Emmanuel Macron’s administration preferred to limit the public reaction.
The report itself has not been published. It is impossible to verify its conclusions, as well as to definitively establish the reasons for the Élysée Palace — the administration of the President of France — not to disclose the materials.
The situation with Russia also requires precision. Financial Times reports on the investigation of alleged disinformation campaigns around the French unrest, including the activities of pro-Kremlin networks Matryoshka and Storm-1516. Previously, these networks spread fake publications and passed off manipulations as messages from real media. But the presence of such operators does not yet prove their involvement in specific arson attacks or riots on October 17.
Why this is being monitored in Israel and Ukraine
Assumptions about Iranian involvement in the unrest deserve attention in Israel. НАновости — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency has already written about MI5’s warning, the British counterintelligence: according to its assessment, criminal networks associated with Iran threaten Jewish communities and Israeli objects in Europe. This is a different plot, and a direct connection of those threats with the French protests has not yet been established.
Iranian information operations have already been experienced by Israel. In February 2024, Microsoft described how groups associated with Tehran sent false messages about threats to Israelis, used fake accounts, and tried to influence the perception of the war. The similarity of methods does not prove the involvement of the same perpetrators in the current French events.
For Ukraine, the resilience of French support amid Russian aggression is significant. In 2027, presidential elections are to be held in France. The political crisis gives Russian propaganda the opportunity to suggest to Europeans that their own problems are more important than helping Kyiv. But there is no basis to say that these attempts have already changed Paris’s policy.
French investigators now need to establish whether there was a connection between foreign information networks and people involved in the violence. So far, there is no public evidence of such a connection, although a diplomatic conflict with Iran has already occurred.