An Iranian court on Monday announced the acquittal of Lennart Monterlos, a French-German national accused of espionage and arrested in June while on a Europe-to-Asia bike trip.
Monterlos, 19, was arrested on 16 June in the southern city of Bandar Abbas on the third day of the war between Iran and Israel.
The charges against the teenager, who was cycling alone across Iran on a Europe-to-Asia bike trip, were never officially disclosed.
His family had called on Iranian authorities to release him, arguing he was "innocent of everything".
Family of French-German cyclist detained in Iran says he is 'innocent'
"The Revolutionary Court, taking into account legal principles and doubts about the crime, has issued a verdict of acquittal of the accused," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported, adding that the prosecutor could object to the decision.
The decision followed an earlier announcement by Tehran that it hopes for the imminent release of a French couple detained in Tehran since 2022 in exchange for the release of an Iranian woman arrested in France.
French citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, accused of spying for Israel, are also detained in Iran and face the death penalty.
They were arrested on 7 May, 2022, on the last day of a tourist trip.
"The decision regarding the release of these two individuals and Ms Esfandiari is being reviewed by the relevant authorities," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters at his weekly briefing.
"We hope that, once the necessary procedures are completed, this will happen soon," he added, stressing that the two cases are separate issues.
Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman, was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media, according to French authorities.
ICJ drops France’s case on jailed couple in Iran as families urge action
Iran has repeatedly called her detention arbitrary but maintains that Kohler and Paris, were spying on behalf of Israel.
"We believe that the detention of the Iranian national in France was unlawful," Baqaei said, adding the French couple "face clearly defined charges".
Earlier this year, France took the case to the International Court of Justice, accusing Iran of breaching consular access obligations under the Vienna Convention.
Paris later withdrew the request after Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said a prisoner swap involving the couple and Esfandiari was nearing its final stages.
(with AFP)
