An Iranian lower court has handed heavy prison sentences to two French citizens charged with spying for France and Israel, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday. The announcement comes a week after Paris and Tehran indicated progress in talks to release them.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris are the only two remaining French citizens held in Iran and have been detained since 2022 when they were arrested at the end of a tourist trip.
Without specifically naming the defendants, the court sentenced one French citizen to six years in prison for spying on behalf of France, five years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime against national security, and 20 years of imprisonment for assisting Israeli intelligence services.
The other defendant was handed 10 years in prison for spying on behalf of France, five years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime against national security, and 17 years of imprisonment for assisting Israeli intelligence services.
The charges could have led to the death penalty.
The two defendants can appeal their sentences to a higher court.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot have repeatedly called for the release of Kohler and Paris.
France has accused Iran of holding them arbitrarily, keeping them in conditions akin to torture in Tehran's Evin prison and not allowing proper consular protection.
The Islamic Republic denies the accusations.
ICJ drops France’s case on jailed couple in Iran as families urge action
No prisoner swap
In early September, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a television interview that a prisoner swap involving the French pair was nearing its "final stage" – with a proposed exchange for Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman arrested in France in February over promoting terrorism on social media.
Iran has repeatedly requested her release, arguing that she was unjustly detained.
Iran's judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday that accusations against Esfandyari were baseless and that France had refused to release her temporarily on bail.
"Follow-ups have taken a while but they have not stopped... We are striving for her release without conditions," he added.
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.
Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German cyclist arrested this year, was released last week after a court acquitted him of espionage charges.
(with newswires)
