France's foreign ministry denies asking for ban of Iranian opposition rally

PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - France's foreign ministry denied on Friday that it had asked for the ban of an Iranian opposition rally that had been due to take place on Saturday in Paris.The Paris-based NCRI said earlier in the day that the Paris police had banned their rally at the last minute and linked it to a call by France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi on Thursday."This allegation is false. The minister did not mention this protest or request its cancellation," the ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters.