Macron asks Rouhani to show restraint, minister's visit postponed

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Iranian counterpart in a phone call on Tuesday to show restraint in dealing with protests, Macron’s office said in a statement. The statement said Macron had expressed his concern to President Hassan Rouhani over the number of casualties in the six-day-old protests, and told him that freedom of speech and protest must be respected. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s planned trip to Tehran later this week was also postponed to a future date, the French presidency said. Iranian media said Rouhani had asked France to act against Mujahideen exiles working against the Iranian establishment from Paris. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Geert De Clercq and Kevin Liffey)