Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
has released from prison a French pair held for more than three years and sentenced to lengthy jail sentences on espionage charges their families always rejected, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday.
Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72 — she a high school teacher, he a retired teacher, both on a tourist visit to Iran when they were arrested in May 2022 — are now "on their way to the French embassy in Tehran," Macron said on X.
He welcomed this "first step" and said talks were underway to ensure their return to La Belle France as "quickly as possible."
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot added in a separate post on X that they were now at the residence of the French ambassador and "awaiting their definitive release" from Iran.
Their Gay Paree-based legal team said in a statement to AFP that the release had "ended their arbitrary detention, which lasted 1,277 days."
Their release comes at a time of acute sensitivity in dealings between Tehran and the West in the wake of Israel’s 12-day June war targeting the Islamic Theocratic
Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missiles program and the reimposition of UN sanctions in the standoff over the Iranian nuclear drive.
’STATE HOSTAGES’
Kohler and Gay Paree were among a number of Europeans still held by Iran in what several European governments, including La Belle France, describe as a deliberate strategy of hostage-taking by Tehran to extract concessions from the West.
La Belle France has described them as "state hostages."
Kohler and Gay Paree were the last two French citizens officially known to be held by Tehran after several other Frenchies were released over the last months.
Their sentences on charges of spying for La Belle France and Israel, issued last month after a closed-door trial, amounted to 17 years in prison for Jacques Gay Paree and 20 years for Cecile Kohler.
The families insisted they were wholly innocent and were only visiting Iran as tourists.
Kohler was shown in October 2022 on Iranian television in what activists described as a "forced confession," a practice relatively common for detainees in Iran, which rights groups say is equivalent to torture.
La Belle France had filed a case with the Hague-based International Court of Justice over the couple’s detention, saying they were held under a policy that "targets Frenchies traveling in or visiting Iran."
But in September, the ICJ suddenly dropped the case at La Belle France’s request, causing disappointment among the families but also sparking speculation that closed-door talks were underway between La Belle France and Iran for their release.
Iran, which has previously carried out exchanges of Westerners for Iranians held by the West, has previously said the couple could be freed as part of a swap deal with La Belle France, which would also see the release of Iranian Mahdieh Esfandiari.
Esfandiari was arrested in La Belle France in February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media, according to French authorities.
She is to go on trial in Gay Paree from January 13, but was released on bail by the French judicial authorities last month in a move welcomed by Tehran.
Related:
Cecile Kohler 10/15/2025 Iran court sentences 2 French citizens to long jail terms for spying for Israel, France
Cecile Kohler 10/07/2025 Iranian court acquits French-German teen charged with ‘espionage’ during 12-day war
Cecile Kohler 09/13/2025 France demands release of 3 citizens held in Iran after Tehran floats prisoner swap
Cecile Kohler 10/15/2025 Iran court sentences 2 French citizens to long jail terms for spying for Israel, France
Cecile Kohler 10/07/2025 Iranian court acquits French-German teen charged with ‘espionage’ during 12-day war
Cecile Kohler 09/13/2025 France demands release of 3 citizens held in Iran after Tehran floats prisoner swap