Three Years in Detention: How the French Couple Finally Left Iran
Two French nationals have been released from detention in Iran and departed the country, ending a grueling ordeal that their families say was based on fabricated espionage charges.
The Long Journey Home
Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, left Iran on Tuesday morning in a diplomatic convoy with the French ambassador, according to French Foreign Ministry sources. They are currently in Azerbaijan en route to France.
“Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on their way to France, after three and a half years in detention in Iran,” President Emmanuel Macron announced on X.
The Detention
The couple, both educators with Paris being retired, were arrested in May 2022 following what their families describe as a routine tourist visit to Iran. They were tried behind closed doors and sentenced in October to lengthy prison terms on espionage charges—Paris to 17 years and Kohler to 20 years for allegedly spying for France and Israel.
Their families have consistently maintained the charges were fabricated.
Released in November
The pair were freed in November but remained under house arrest at the French embassy in Tehran. Their situation became increasingly precarious after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, casting further uncertainty over when and how they might leave the country.
Relief and Celebration
The news of their departure prompted emotional reactions from loved ones and officials. Jacques Paris’s daughter, Anne-Laure Paris, told AFP: “We are waiting for their return to France so we can give them a big hug.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the couple were “free at last” and reported speaking with them by phone. “They told me of their emotion and joy at soon being reunited with their country and their loved ones,” he wrote on X.
Their lawyer, Thierry Moser, struggled to contain his emotion: “I have tears in my eyes, I’m almost struggling to speak.”
Broader Pattern
The couple are among several European nationals who have been detained in Iran on espionage charges. Activists and Western governments have described such detentions as part of a deliberate hostage-taking strategy by Iran to extract concessions from the West.
Their departure marks a rare resolution to cases that have tested diplomatic relations between France and Iran for years.
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