Overview

• French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced Lennart Monterlos's release and urged the immediate release of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris.
• Monterlos is traveling to France under diplomatic escort and is expected to arrive in Paris on Thursday.
• The 19-year-old was arrested on June 16 in Bandar Abbas while cycling through southern Iran and was later accused of spying for Israel.
• An Iranian court cleared him of the espionage charge in recent days, and President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the news and thanked those involved.
• Iranian officials indicated Kohler and Paris could be freed soon, with reports pointing to a possible reciprocal release of an Iranian scientist held in France, a dynamic critics call hostage diplomacy that Tehran rejects.