Exchange of prisoners? French couple released after three years in prison in Iran
After more than three years in Iranian custody, a French couple has been released, President Macron has announced. According to observers, an exchange of prisoners may have played a role in this.
04.11.2025, 21:31
SDA
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- Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris spent over three years in a prison in Iran - now the French couple are free again.
- According to President Emmanuel Macron, the two are on their way to the embassy in Tehran.
- According to observers, the couple, who were arrested on a trip in 2022 and imprisoned, could be part of a prisoner exchange between France and Iran.
A French couple has been released after more than three years in prison in Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris were on their way to the French embassy in Tehran.
"The dialog continues in order to facilitate their return to France as soon as possible," Macron announced. He praised the move and wrote of an "immense relief".
France had long been calling for the release of the two and accused the Iranian government of holding the French as "state hostages".
Arrested during a trip
Kohler and Paris were arrested in May 2022 during a trip to Iran. According to French media, they are both teachers, but he is already retired.
According to sources in Tehran, the couple met with Iranian trade union activists - a possible reason for their arrest. Iran's judiciary sentenced them to 17 and 20 years in prison for espionage in mid-October.
For years, human rights activists have accused the Iranian leadership of so-called "hostage diplomacy" - the arrest of Western citizens in order to free Iranian officials abroad. The government in Tehran firmly rejects the accusations and usually justifies the arrests with suspicion of espionage.
Prisoner swap with Iran?
Just two weeks ago, Iranian citizen Mahdieh Esfandiari was released from prison in France and placed under house arrest, according to Tehran. According to the Paris public prosecutor's office, Esfandiari had been in pre-trial detention in France since spring 2025.
She was accused of glorifying acts of terrorism on social networks - in particular the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023. According to observers, the release of the other citizens could be a prisoner exchange.
France had stepped up its tone towards Tehran in recent months in order to exert pressure over the detained French citizens. In January, Iran's ambassador was summoned to Paris. In March, a Frenchman was released after 887 days in prison in Iran. Against the backdrop of the nuclear dispute with the West, relations between European countries and Iran's government have sunk to a new low. A German-Frenchman was also recently released.
