play Live Sign upShow navigation menuplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upNewsFrench nationals return home following Iran prison releaseCecile Kohler and Jacques Paris were freed in November after more than three years at Evin prison.
twitterwhatsappcopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoThe picture shows French national Cecile Kohler (L) and her partner French national Jacques Paris along with a placard reading "Freedom for Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris arbitrarily detained in Iran for over two years in appalling conditions" outside the Palais Bourbon, France's National Assembly [File: AFP]By ReutersPublished On 7 Apr 20267 Apr 2026French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that two French nationals who were detained in Iran for more than three years before being released last year, were returning to France following negotiations led by Oman.
“Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on their way back to France, after three and a half years of detention in Iran. This is a relief for all of us and, of course, for their families,” Macron said on X on Tuesday.
Iran’s agreement to allow the pair to return comes amid an apparent thaw in relations between Paris and Tehran, as France has criticised the war being waged by the United States and Israel on Iran.
The couple were detained in Iran in 2022, charged with spying for France and Israel. France insisted that the charges were unfounded.
In November last year, they were released from the notorious Evin prison. They have been staying at the French embassy since.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he had spoken to the couple about their eagerness to return home.
“They shared with me their emotion and their joy to return soon to their country and their loved ones,” he said in a social media post.
His ministry said Barrot had held discussions over the weekend with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi. French lawmakers greeted the announcement of their release with a standing ovation at the National Assembly.
The pair were among a number of Europeans caught up in what activists and some Western governments, including France, describe as a deliberate strategy of “hostage-taking” by Iran to extract concessions from the West.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA confirmed the couple’s release, saying it followed an understanding between Tehran and Paris that France would, in turn, release Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon.
Esfandiari was arrested last year over anti-Israel social media posts. As part of the understanding, France would also withdraw a complaint against Iran in the International Court of Justice, IRNA reported.
The release comes as France has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Trump’s handling of the war in Iran. Last week, a container belonging to French shipping giant CMA CGM was the first Western vessel known to have made the passage through the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway where traffic has been brought to a near-standstill by Iran in retaliation for US-Israel strikes on its territory. The obstruction has caused a global energy crisis.
Seeking the reopening of the energy chokepoint, US President Donald Trump threatened to wipe out “a whole civilisation” unless Iran reaches a deal with the United States to reopen the strait by Wednesday at 00:00 GMT.
