Overview

• Bernard Phelan and Benjamin Brière were released by Iranian authorities on February 12 and are returning to France.
• Four other French citizens remain imprisoned in Iran, including Fariba Adelkhah, who was temporarily released in February 2021 but unable to leave the country.
• Phelan was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for "providing information to an enemy country" and detained since October 2021.
• Brière was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for "espionage" and detained since May 2020.
• Adelkhah, a Franco-Iranian academic, remains unable to return to France despite her temporary release.