Iran released two French citizens from detention

Iran has released two French citizens who had been held there for more than three years, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Cécile Kohler, 41, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72, had been released from Evin prison, Macron said on Tuesday, with France’s foreign minister later confirming they were “safe” at the embassy in Tehran “before their final release”.

“I welcome this first step. The dialogue continues to allow their return to France as quickly as possible,” Macron said.

The two, who were arrested in May 2022 while on a tourist trip, are believed to be the latest French nationals detained in Iran.

Last month they were found guilty of espionage on behalf of France and Israel, and they were long prison sentences imposed, according to Iranian state media reports.

A number of Europeans have been held by Iran in recent years. France has accused Iran of taking state hostages and holding its own citizens in torture-like conditions, something Tehran has denied.

In a statement to the AFP news agency on Tuesday, the pair’s Paris-based legal team said the release of Kohler and Paris “ended their arbitrary detention of 1,277 days”. AFP said their families insisted they were completely innocent.

Their release comes more than a month after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal to exchange French detainees for an Iranian woman held in France was almost complete. Iran said Kohler and Parris could be released as part of that deal.

Mahdie Esfandiari, who has been detained in France since February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media, was released on parole by French authorities last month.