(PARIS) - Iran summoned the French ambassador to Tehran to protest a conference of European far-right activists in Germany, which Iran branded as "Islamophobic," the French foreign ministry said Monday.

The two-day meeting in the western German city of Cologne was organised by the far-right group Pro-Koeln (For Cologne) to denounce Muslim immigration to Germany and the construction of one of Europe's largest mosques in the city.

The Iranian foreign ministry told France, as current president of the European Union, of "its concern over the organisation in Cologne of a gathering that it considered Islamophobic," said ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux.

Ambassador Bernard Poletti responded that the conference was a local event that concerned the city of Cologne and that neither German federal authorities nor European institutions were involved, Desagneaux said.

Far-right leaders from Belgium, Austria and Italy attended the conference, protesting against "Islamification" and voicing support for Europe's "Western values and Christian traditions."

But police on Saturday banned a "Stop Islam!" rally organised by far-right activists just as it was about to begin, following clashes with thousands of opponents in Cologne.

German authorities said 500 people were detained during the clashes.

The French spokesman noted that "the Cologne rally that drew strong opposition from civil society, was banned in the end."

Organisers said about 40,000 people turned out for a counter-demonstration for peaceful coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe, an event backed by the German government and city authorities.

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