Iran releases French couple as Paris releases Iranian

Two French professors traveling in Iran were detained in 2022 and convicted of spying in October 2025. An Iranian national living in France was detained earlier this year. A case that roiled relations comes to a close.

by Roshni Majumdar with Reuters, AFP

French authorities released an Iranian national on Wednesday in what Tehran said was part of a deal involving the release of French nationals serving heavy prison sentences in the Iranian capital.

"Our citizen in France, Ms Esfandiari, is now free, she is at our embassy, and hopefully, she will return once her trial is over," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile expressed "huge relief" on Tuesday after two French nationals, Cecile Kohler, 41, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72, were released from Iran's notorious Evin prison.

Who are the French nationals freed?

Kohler and Paris were detained in 2022, when they were traveling in Iran as tourists. They were accused of espionage and detained in a Tehran prison known for holding political prisoners and detainees. Paris had denounced their detention as "unjustified and unfounded."

There was momentum to set them free after Iranian media reports said they were convicted of spying and handed lengthy prison sentences in October.

Although the judiciary website did not name the defendants, the semi official Fars news agency identified them as the French pair.

Kohler and Paris "are out of the Evin jail and en route to the French Embassy in Tehran," Macron posted on X on Tuesday. "I welcome this first step. The dialogue continues to allow for their return to France as quickly as possible," he said.

Macron has since spoken to the pair via videoconference, the French ambassador to Tehran told French radio station RTL on Wednesday.

"It was very moving for them and for the president. They thanked him for his commitment" to see them free, Pierre Cochard said.

Who is the Iranian national freed?

France arrested an Iranian national living in the French city of Lyon earlier this year over anti-Israel social media posts.

In October, Iranian authorities said that Mahdieh Esfandiari, was moved to house arrest after having been detained and accused of glorifying terror acts, including Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, on social media.

French and Iranian authorities last month discussed freeing Esfandiari as part of a deal that would see Kohler and Paris walking free as well, the French AFP news agency reported.

Observers say the timing suggests that the two cases may be part of a prisoner exchange.

Edited by: Rana Taha 

Roshni Majumdar Roshni is an editor and a writer at DW's online breaking news desk.