Since the election of President Pezeshkian in July 2024, the situation of the three French hostages held by the Islamic Republic has deteriorated, Jean-Noël Barrot declared this Tuesday, January 7. As long as they are not free, France advises against travel to Iran.
Jean-Noël Barrot, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, called on Tuesday, January 7, French nationals not to travel to Iran until “complete liberation” of its three detainees in this country. “The situation of our compatriots hostages in Iran is simply unacceptable; they have been unjustly detained for several years, in undignified conditions which, for some, fall within the definition of torture under international law”declared the minister during the conference of ambassadors, ensuring that Paris did not forget them “just one second”.
“From the election of President Pezeshkian and despite our efforts to engage at the highest level, their situation has deteriorated”continued the minister. “I say this to the Iranian authorities: our hostages must be released. Our bilateral relations and the future of sanctions depend on it. And until the complete release of our hostages, I ask our compatriots not to go to Iran.he said.
“State Hostages”
A French couple, Cécile Kohler, a 40-year-old modern literature professor, and Jacques Paris, 70, a retired mathematics professor, have been detained in Iran since May 2022 and accused by the authorities of‘”espionage”which their relatives deny. A third Frenchman, named Olivier but whose last name has not been made public, has also been detained in Iran since 2022. Paris describes these prisoners as«state hostages».
Iran, a country in which 901 people would have been executed in 2024 according to the UN, and which detains several Western or binational nationals, is accused by their supporters and NGOs of using them as a bargaining chip in negotiations over State to State. This was the case with the Frenchwoman Clotilde Reiss imprisoned from July 2009 to May 2010, whose release would have been the subject of a quid pro quo with that of the release of the Iranian Ali Vakili Vad, convicted in France for the assassination in August 1991 of the former Prime Minister of the Shah, Chapour Bakhtiar.
This strategy continues to be used in Iran: another young Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, was arrested in Tehran on December 19 during a professional trip. Iran accuses him of having “breaks the laws”, while Rome denounced an arrest “unacceptable”.
