Overview
- Cécile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, were arrested in May 2022 while visiting Iran and are now out of prison, President Emmanuel Macron announced.
- The pair are at the French ambassador’s residence in Tehran and are awaiting their definitive release from Iranian authorities, according to Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
- Macron said negotiations are underway to secure their travel home as quickly as possible.
- Last month an Iranian court handed Kohler a 20-year sentence and Paris 17 years after a closed-door trial on espionage charges that their families reject as baseless.
- France previously filed a case at the International Court of Justice over their detention but asked for it to be dropped in September, and Iranian officials have suggested a possible swap involving Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, who is on bail in France.