France demands release of citizens as Iran signals prisoner swap deal

Shafaq News – Paris

France on Friday demanded the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of three of its citizens held in Iran, outgoing Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Speaking to France Inter radio, Barrot declined to address comments by his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, who announced that a prisoner exchange deal was close.

Araghchi said in a televised interview that talks were in their final stage for the release of French nationals in exchange for Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman detained in France in February on charges of promoting terrorism online. Tehran insists she has been unjustly held.

France has filed a case at the International Court of Justice over the detention of two of its citizens, Cecile Kohler, 40, and Jacques Paris, in his 70s, who were arrested in May 2022 and accused of spying for Israel.

Kohler and Paris are among about 20 Europeans imprisoned in Iran, including a Franco-German teenager who disappeared in June during a cycling trip and was later confirmed to be in custody.