The head of French diplomacy Stéphane Séjourné received on Wednesday the families of the four French people “arbitrarily detained in Iran for too long months”, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The minister "assured them that he stood by their side in this terrible ordeal, just like all state services", adds the press release from the Quai d'Orsay, reaffirming France's "total mobilization" for their release.
The minister said it again “to his Iranian counterpart during their meeting in New York on January 23.”
Cécile Kohler, a 39-year-old French teacher and her partner, Jacques Paris, retired from National Education, have been detained since May 2022. This Force Ouvrière unionist and literature teacher at the Pierres-Vives high school in Carrières-sur-Seine ( Yvelines) is accused of espionage by the Islamic Republic.
“Unfounded accusations”, according to Louis Arnaud’s parents
Consultant Louis Arnaud was arrested on September 28, 2022 in Tehran and sentenced to 5 years in prison, accused of participating in the protests that broke out in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini.
“The accusations made against him, namely propaganda and undermining the security of the Iranian state, are completely unfounded,” said his parents Jean-Michel and Sylvie Arnaud.
A Frenchman, whose identity has never been made public, is also a prisoner in Iran.
Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, arrested in 2019 for endangering national security, then released in February 2023, returned to France last October.
Another Frenchman, Benjamin Brière, and a Franco-Irish national, Bernard Phelan, were released in May for “humanitarian reasons”.
VIDEO.
Iran: French hostages Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phelan have been released
The Islamic Republic of Iran detains more than ten Western nationals and is accused by their supporters and NGOs of using them as a bargaining chip in state-to-state negotiations.