Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, a French couple who have been detained by Iranian authorities for three years on espionage charges, have been formally charged with spying on behalf of Mossad, Israel’s external intelligence service, conspiracy to overthrow the Iranian government, and “earthly corruption”, three charges that each carries the death penalty.
Cécile Kohler, a 41 yo literature teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, a 71 yo retired mathematics teacher, were arrested in 2022 by Iranian authorities as they were visiting the country on a tourist visa, motivated by their shared passion for Persian culture. Since then, they have been held on espionage charges in various locations, including the notorious Evin Prison, in the Tehran suburbs.
Kohler and Paris are considered by French diplomatic services to be “state-held hostages”, and an element of Iran’s “hostage diplomacy”, consisting in arresting and detaining Western nationals to extract concessions, notably on Iran’s nuclear program. Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian anthroplogist, and Benjamin Brière, a tourist, were also held hostages and freed in recent years by the Iranian regime.
Their fate was further jeopardized by Israel’s escalation against Iran in June, with the pair’s family losing contact with them shortly before the war erupted. On June 23, an Israeli strike on Evin Prison, where the couple was held along with numerous Iranian political prisoners, was vigorously condemned by French diplomacy. Israel admitted to the strike but claimed they only struck the entrance without causing casualties; Iran claimed that more than 70 people, including prisoners and their family members, were killed in the strike, releasing pictures they said showed severe damage to the prison.
A diplomat was able to meet Kohler and Paris under heavy surveillance after the strike to confirm they had not been killed or maimed, but the couple remain in “*dire*” physical and mental condition.
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Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, a French couple who have been detained by Iranian authorities for three years on espionage charges, have been formally charged with spying on behalf of Mossad, Israel’s external intelligence service, conspiracy to overthrow the Iranian government, and “earthly corruption”, three charges that each carries the death penalty.
Cécile Kohler, a 41 yo literature teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, a 71 yo retired mathematics teacher, were arrested in 2022 by Iranian authorities as they were visiting the country on a tourist visa, motivated by their shared passion for Persian culture. Since then, they have been held on espionage charges in various locations, including the notorious Evin Prison, in the Tehran suburbs.
Kohler and Paris are considered by French diplomatic services to be “state-held hostages”, and an element of Iran’s “hostage diplomacy”, consisting in arresting and detaining Western nationals to extract concessions, notably on Iran’s nuclear program. Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian anthroplogist, and Benjamin Brière, a tourist, were also held hostages and freed in recent years by the Iranian regime.
Their fate was further jeopardized by Israel’s escalation against Iran in June, with the pair’s family losing contact with them shortly before the war erupted. On June 23, an Israeli strike on Evin Prison, where the couple was held along with numerous Iranian political prisoners, was vigorously condemned by French diplomacy. Israel admitted to the strike but claimed they only struck the entrance without causing casualties; Iran claimed that more than 70 people, including prisoners and their family members, were killed in the strike, releasing pictures they said showed severe damage to the prison.
A diplomat was able to meet Kohler and Paris under heavy surveillance after the strike to confirm they had not been killed or maimed, but the couple remain in “*dire*” physical and mental condition.