Olivier Grondin, the French 'Hostage' of the Islamic Republic: I Am Innocent

French news agency AFP reported the name of the third French citizen imprisoned in Iran since 2022 as Olivier Grondin. Cecile Kohler, a French union activist, and her husband Jacques Paris are also imprisoned in Iran, but the name of the third French citizen, who according to French officials has been taken hostage by the Iranian government, had not been previously disclosed. In a voice message revealed by Radio France on Monday, January 13, Grondin spoke for the first time, stating, 'I have been taken hostage by the Iranian government for two years and three months.' In early 2024, he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of 'espionage and conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.' According to the French website 'ICI,' Olivier Grondin, exhausted and without hope for freedom, decided to reveal his name and publicly speak about his case in a voice recording obtained by the international editorial team of Radio France and published by 'ICI.' This 34-year-old French tourist, born in Montpellier but raised in Paris, was arrested in Shiraz while on a world tour on October 12, 2022. He was sentenced to five years in prison on February 19, 2024, for 'espionage and conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.' This voice recording was made during a phone call with his family, which he could make weekly. In this call dated December 20, 2024, he states that he has been 'a hostage of the Iranian government for two years and three months' and has become a victim of 'political extortion' between France and Iran. Olivier Grondin assures, 'The court that convicted me had no evidence against me.' Aware that he risks danger by releasing this message, he continues, 'I am innocent; everyone here knows I am innocent.' According to the report, he is particularly concerned that his request for conditional release may be denied and that his detention conditions may worsen. Before his trial, Olivier Grondin had gone on a hunger strike due to delays in his court date. He is currently in Evin Prison in Tehran, sharing a cell with 18 other inmates. According to the report, he also has access to a library and has begun receiving books sent by the French embassy. He states that he is tired: 'In my situation, speaking is a risk. But since there is danger, there is also hope. But I have very little to lose. I am really very tired.' His health remains very fragile. His relatives warn that his condition has deteriorated and become concerning since early December. A few months ago, he began taking antidepressants. In his voice message, Olivier Grondin also mentions two other French citizens, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, teachers who have been detained since May 2022, and according to him, are in even harsher conditions than his own. Olivier Grondin was born in 1991 in Montpellier. His relatives say he grew up in Paris and studied literature there. A former Scrabble champion, Beyoncé fan, karaoke enthusiast, and avid reader, he left Paris in 2011 to travel without a mobile phone or camera. This young man traveled through 90 countries over more than ten years, equipped with a backpack, a tracksuit, and a pair of slippers. At the beginning of 2021, when international travel was impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he walked from France, covering 1,500 kilometers with a cart full of books. In the fall of 2021, Olivier hit the road again and finally arrived in Iran, a country he particularly loves, in September 2022. In October 2022, he wrote in an email to a friend that given the tense conditions there, he was considering returning to France. Two days later, he was arrested. Previously, France summoned the Islamic Republic's ambassador on Friday, January 12, regarding the issue of French citizens who have been taken hostage by the Iranian government. The French Foreign Ministry reiterated its recent warnings about the danger of travel for French citizens to Iran, calling the situation of detained French citizens in Iran 'intolerable' and stating that according to international law, detention without respect for human dignity constitutes 'torture.' In the ministry's statement, these French citizens are referred to as 'hostages of the Islamic Republic of Iran.' The two French citizens previously publicly identified as detained in Iran are Cecile Kohler, a French union activist, and her husband Jacques Paris, who have been imprisoned in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, a ward under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, since their arrest in May 2022. Iranian security forces arrested them after meeting with several labor activists and teachers and later accused them of 'espionage.' In recent years, the Islamic Republic has detained dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, primarily on charges of espionage and security. In one of the latest cases, a Swiss citizen who was imprisoned in Iran on charges of 'espionage' died on Thursday, January 11. In response, the Swiss government requested detailed information from the Islamic Republic regarding the reasons for the arrest and the conditions leading to the death of one of its citizens in an Iranian prison. On Friday, January 12, the Swiss Foreign Ministry issued a statement, a copy of which was sent to the Persian section of Voice of America, announcing that Iranian government officials informed the embassy in Tehran on December 11 that a 64-year-old Swiss man had been arrested on suspicion of 'espionage.' Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was in Iran on a press visa, was arrested by the Islamic Republic three days after the arrest of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi at Milan Airport on December 16. Last Wednesday, Cecilia Sala, the Italian journalist who had been arrested and imprisoned in Iran, was released and returned to Italy. Just yesterday, news emerged that Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi had also been released from prison in Italy, a report that confirms previous speculations about the Islamic Republic's hostage-taking for a deal involving Sala and Abedini, despite denials from Iranian officials. The U.S. and European countries accuse the Islamic Republic of engaging in 'hostage-taking' by detaining dual nationals and foreigners to exchange them for their prisoners in other countries. In 2015, coinciding with the nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic exchanged five foreign and dual-national prisoners for Iranian prisoners in the U.S. Senior French, British, and German diplomats are set to meet with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva on Monday, January 24, to discuss bilateral issues and the future of nuclear negotiations. Diplomatic sources indicate that around 20 European citizens from 10 countries have been detained and effectively taken hostage by the Islamic Republic. France has urged its citizens not to travel to Iran until the 'release of hostages.' France summoned the Islamic Republic's ambassador to protest against the government's 'hostage-taking.' Reuters reported that the Iranian government described France's approach as 'unconstructive.' Shirin Ebadi stated that the Italian journalist will not be the last hostage of the Islamic Republic, while France called the conditions of its three 'hostages' in Iran 'unacceptable.'