Overview

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Le Monde on July 10 that Lennart Monterlos was arrested for an unspecified offence and that Paris received an official embassy notification.
• Monterlos had been missing since June 16 while cycling from France to Japan on a 35,000-kilometre, 400-day transcontinental journey.
• Tehran has not revealed the nature of the alleged offence, highlighting concerns over the opacity of Iran’s legal process for foreign detainees.
• The French Foreign Ministry says it is in contact with Iranian authorities and the cyclist’s family and has reiterated its warning against travel to Iran.
• This arrest joins two other French nationals held on espionage charges as part of a wider pattern of Westerners detained by Iran for leverage in diplomatic disputes.