France Urges Citizens Not to Travel to Iran Until Hostages Are Released

On Tuesday, France urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to Iran until French nationals held as "hostages" are released. According to AFP, Jean-Noël Barrot, the French Foreign Minister, emphasized that the situation of compatriots held in Iran is unacceptable, stating, "They have been unjustly detained for several years." Previously, the French Foreign Ministry described the conditions of three of its citizens detained by the Islamic Republic of Iran as "unacceptable" and stated that the government would continue its efforts for their immediate release. Pascal Canfin, deputy spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, noted that Barrot met with the families of the three French citizens in Iran and referred to them as "hostages" of the Iranian government. Iranian media had reported that Cécile Kohler, a French trade union activist who has been detained in Iran for over 950 days, was scheduled to be tried on Sunday, November 25, in the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Kohler and her husband, Jacques Paris, have been imprisoned in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is overseen by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, since their arrest in May 2022. According to the Iranian Teachers' Coordination Council, Noémie Kohler, Cécile's sister, emphasized that a fair trial is not possible in Iran. Cécile Kohler, a member of the French Workers' Federation of Education and Culture, and her husband Jacques Paris, who traveled to Iran on a tourist visa, were arrested in mid-May 2022 after meeting with several labor and teacher activists and were subsequently accused of espionage. Many organizations and unions worldwide condemned the arrest of this French couple and dozens of labor activists and teachers, citing the legality of these meetings under International Labor Organization conventions. The French Foreign Ministry also condemned the hostage-taking policy and ongoing extortion by the Islamic Republic on the second anniversary of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris's arrest, publicly stating that the Iranian government has taken Ms. Kohler and other French citizens imprisoned in Iran as hostages. Additionally, Amnesty International, in a statement on July 7, emphasized that the Islamic Republic has taken Cécile Kohler as a "hostage" to "force French officials to take specific actions". Amnesty International called for her protection against further torture and mistreatment, and for her access to phone calls with family, medical services, a chosen lawyer, and consular services. In recent years, the Islamic Republic has detained dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mainly on espionage and security charges. In one of the latest cases, Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist, was arrested by Iranian security agencies. Ms. Sala, who was in Iran on a journalist visa, was detained just three days after the arrest of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi at Milan Airport on December 25. U.S. prosecutors have charged Abedini Najafabadi and Mehdi Mohammadi with providing drone navigation technology for a deadly January 2024 attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan. Italian analysts believe that Sala's arrest was aimed at pressuring Italy to release Abedini. The families and colleagues of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris have called for their release from the Islamic Republic's prison. Amnesty International has called for the "immediate release" of Cécile Kohler, a French citizen imprisoned in Iran. France has accused the Iranian government of using state hostage-taking and extortion tactics. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized support for Israel and efforts to free hostages. The U.S. states that the Islamic Republic has a long history of "hostage-taking" foreign nationals to advance "political objectives".