France condemns Iran's detention of couple

3/7/2025 6:14

France reaffirmed on Wednesday

its condemnation of Iran's detention of two French citizens, who

have been held for three years.



The pair, Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, are

being held in a "totally arbitrary manner," the French foreign

ministry said in a statement following a report from AFP that

the two had been charged with spying for Israel's Mossad spy

agency.



If the report is confirmed, the charge is "totally

unfounded," a diplomatic source said, adding the pair was

innocent.



France in May filed a case at the International Court of

Justice against Iran for violating the right to consular

protection, a bid to pressure Iran over the detention of Kohler

and Paris, who have been held since May 2022.



Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of foreign

and dual nationals in recent years, often on espionage-related

charges. Rights groups and Western countries accuse Tehran of

using foreign detainees as bargaining chips, which Iran denies.