Iran-France Will Agree On Prisoner Swap After Tehran Accused Of Arbitrary

JAKARTA - Iran and France indicated negotiations on the release of two French nationals detained in Iran in exchange for an Iranian citizen detained by France immediately reached an agreement.

Iran has detained Total Kohler and his partner Jacques Paris since 2022. An 18-year-old French-German cyclist, Lennart Monterlos, was also detained in Iran after his arrest in June.

France has repeatedly accused Iran of arbitrarily detaining Kohler and Paris, placing them in conditions similar to torture at the Evin prison in Tehran and not providing adequate consular protection. The Islamic Republic denies the allegations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in mid-September proposed that French nationals be exchanged with Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon, who was arrested this year for anti-Israeli social media posts.

"The decision regarding the release of these two men and Mrs. Esfandiari is currently being reviewed by the competent authorities," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a news conference on Monday, October 6.

"We hope that after the necessary procedures are completed, this will be implemented soon," he continued.

"We have strong prospects for being able to repatriate them in the coming weeks," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who will soon step down to France Inter radio.

"We remain fully mobilized and demand their immediate and unconditional release," he continued.

According to Iran's semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, Iran released French-German national Lennart Monterlos from espionage charges, the chairman of a court of Hormozgan province in southern Iran said Monday.

In September, France canceled its lawsuit at the International Court against Iran for violating the right to consular protection for its citizens, a move indicating progress in efforts to reach an agreement.

The case at the International Criminal Court (ICJ) is widely seen as an attempt to pressure Iran over the detention of its citizens. Iran accuses the two of them of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence service.