France has named career diplomat Pierre Cochard as its new ambassador to Iran, as European governments push to revive nuclear talks and prevent a wider regional war. His appointment comes amid growing fears for the safety of two French citizens still jailed in Tehran, and just over a week after Israeli air strikes targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites.
Cochard, 63, has held senior positions in some of France’s most strategically important embassies. Before his new posting, announced on Thursday, Cochard was France’s ambassador to Serbia.
He takes over from Nicolas Roche, who has moved on to lead France’s national security and cyber defence agency.
Tehran is familiar ground for Cochard. He first worked at the French embassy there in the early 1990s as first secretary. Since then, his career has taken him to Tokyo, the Vatican, Jerusalem and the United Nations in New York.
His return to Iran comes as France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot prepares to meet Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday, alongside ministers from Germany and the UK, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
The talks follow a week of escalating violence between Iran and Israel, and come amid warnings that the United States may join the conflict.
Barrot said France, Germany and the UK were “ready to take part in negotiations aimed at obtaining from Iran a lasting rollback of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes”.
He added that Iran had signalled a willingness to resume talks with the US, provided there is a ceasefire.
French couple in Tehran jail
One of Cochard's first assignments as ambassador will be to secure the release of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, a French couple detained in Tehran since 7 May 2022. Iran accuses them of espionage – a charge they deny.
The pair are being held in section 209 of Evin Prison, a part of the facility run by Iranian intelligence and used for political detainees. France has condemned their detention, describing them as state hostages.
Speaking to RFI on Wednesday, Kohler’s sister, Noémie, urged French officials to act quickly.
“We expect the French authorities to use all their influence to bring an end to the bombings, so that there are no more civilian casualties and so that Cécile and Jacques can regain some semblance of safety,” she said.
“We also expect them to do their utmost by invoking, for example, humanitarian evacuation, which is justified in this situation.”
Risk of escalation
On Thursday, Iranian missiles hit Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and struck two towns near Tel Aviv, injuring at least 47 people. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be treated as a legitimate target.
“Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals,” Katz told reporters. “Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, warned that any attempt to target Iran’s leadership could provoke wider chaos.
“It could cause widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of the region’s people and severely harm everyone’s interests,” he said.
Russia also warned against outside intervention. On Thursday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States should stay out of the conflict.
“We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” she said.
Geneva talks
Araghchi said the Geneva talks would focus on nuclear issues and de-escalation. In a post on Wednesday, he defended Iran’s response, saying it had only targeted Israel.
Iran is now enriching uranium up to 60 percent – well above the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 nuclear deal, but still below weapons-grade levels. The programme has raised concern in Israel and among Western governments.
French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that France and its European partners would soon present a proposal to halt the fighting and restart negotiations.
