On Friday, January 10, France summoned the Iranian regime’s ambassador in connection with the issue of French nationals who have been taken “hostage” by the Iranian government.
The French Foreign Ministry, reiterating its recent warnings about the dangers of French nationals traveling to Iran, described the situation of detained French citizens in Iran as intolerable and stated that, under international law, detention without respecting human dignity constitutes torture.
The French Foreign Ministry’s statement referred to these French citizens as hostages of the Iranian government.
Cécile Kohler, a French union activist, and her husband Jacques Paris have been imprisoned in Ward 209 of Evin Prison—a section controlled by the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence—since their arrest in May 2022.
Iranian regime security forces arrested them after they met with several labor activists and teachers, later accusing them of espionage.
Another French citizen, identified only by his first name, Olivier, is also imprisoned in Iran by the regime.
In recent years, the Iranian regime has arrested dozens of dual-national and foreign citizens, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.
In one of the most recent cases, a Swiss citizen who had been imprisoned on espionage charges died on Thursday, January 9. In response, the Swiss government demanded that the Iranian regime provide precise information regarding the reasons for his detention and the circumstances leading to his death in prison.
On Friday, January 10, the Swiss Foreign Ministry announced that Iranian authorities had informed the Swiss Embassy in Tehran on December 10 that a 64-year-old Swiss man had been arrested on suspicion of “espionage.”
Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was in Iran on a journalist visa, was arrested by the Iranian regime three days after the detention of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi at Milan Airport on December 15, 2024, on charges of aiding the Iranian regime in circumventing U.S. sanctions.
In 2015, coinciding with the nuclear agreement, the Iranian regime exchanged five foreign and dual-national prisoners for Iranian prisoners in the United States.
Senior French, British, and German diplomats are scheduled to meet with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva on Monday, January 13, to discuss bilateral issues and the future of nuclear negotiations.
Diplomatic sources report that approximately 20 European citizens from 10 different countries are currently incarcerated—and effectively taken hostage—by the Iranian regime.
