Macron vows tireless work to free French couple in Iran jail

Supporters and relatives of French citizens detained in Iran, Cecile Kohler, Benjamin Briere, Jacques Paris and Fariba Adelkhah, gather in front of the Eiffel Tower during a rally demanding their release, in Paris, France, January 28, 2023.
Supporters and relatives of French citizens detained in Iran, Cecile Kohler, Benjamin Briere, Jacques Paris and Fariba Adelkhah, gather in front of the Eiffel Tower during a rally demanding their release, in Paris, France, January 28, 2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that France is working tirelessly to secure the release of a French couple detained for three years in Iran on spying charges.

Cecile Kohler, a 40-year-old literature teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, in his 70s, were arrested on May 7, 2022, during a tourist trip to Iran.

Both Paris and Kohler were subject to inhumane detention conditions including forced false confessions on state TV.

Several Europeans are being held by Tehran, which France and other European nations consider a strategy of hostage-taking to gain concessions.

"I assure their families that our support is unwavering," Macron wrote on social media platform X, referring to the couple as "hostages."

According to their families, Kohler and Paris are being held in extremely difficult conditions.

Kohler's sister, Noemie, who leads the campaign for their release, said the couple are becoming increasingly desperate and losing hope.

In March, French citizen Olivier Grondeau was released from 887 days in detention in Iran.

France has denied the spying charges against its citizens and demanded their immediate release.