According to the families of the two French citizens detained in Iran, regime authorities transferred Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris—who had survived explosions during the Israeli airstrikes on Evin Prison on June 24—to undisclosed locations.
The French couple were arrested in April 2022 during a tourist visit to Iran and have remained in detention since. According to their families, only one consular visit has taken place since the Israeli airstrike on Evin Prison—on July 2—during which their survival was confirmed.
Former French Hostage: The Iranian Regime Treats Prisoners Like “Animals”
The French nationals were held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is operated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. This ward operates outside the official judicial oversight, and Human Rights Watch has described it as a “prison within a prison,” where detainees are subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, denial of access to legal counsel, and harsh interrogations—a situation amounting to torture.
Iranian regime officials have recently leveled severe charges against the two French nationals, including “espionage for Israel,” “conspiracy to overthrow the state,” and “corruption on Earth,” all of which are capital offenses under Iranian regime law.
In her last direct contact on May 28, Cécile told her family that the judge in their case had warned a “very severe” verdict would soon be issued against them.
After more than three years of inhumane detention and narrowly surviving the recent attacks, Iranian regime authorities are continuing to subject the couple to psychological torture by now bringing charges that could lead to execution.
France has condemned the charges against its two citizens, calling them “baseless and political,” and has demanded their immediate release. Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s foreign minister, described the accusations as “inappropriate and unfounded.”
Cécile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris are the last known French citizens still detained by Iran’s regime. French President Emmanuel Macron has referred to them as “state hostages.”
France and other European Union countries accuse Iran’s regime of systematically taking foreign nationals’ hostage to exert political pressure on Western governments.
Regime officials deny these accusations, claiming that the arrests follow legal procedures and rejecting allegations of prisoner mistreatment.
