Iran frees French citizen after prison ordeal: Macron

Iranian authorities have released French citizen Olivier Grondeau, who had been detained since October 2022 on security charges, and he has now returned to France, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday. Grondeau, 34, “is free and with his loved ones,” Macron wrote on X, adding that “our mobilisation will not weaken” in efforts to secure the release of two other French citizens still detained by Iran, which Paris considers state hostage-taking.

Macron did not provide further details on the circumstances of Grondeau’s release after his nearly 900-day ordeal. The other two detained French nationals are Cecile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner, Jacques Paris, who were arrested in May 2022. They are accused of attempting to incite labor protests, allegations their families have denied.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also wrote on X, sharing a picture of Grondeau on a plane returning home. “Held hostage in Iran for 887 days, he has been reunited with his family, loved ones, and his country. It’s a huge relief,” he stated. Grondeau was arrested in Shiraz, southern Iran, in October 2022 and sentenced to five years in prison for “conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.”

His family rejected the charges, describing Grondeau as a passionate admirer of Persian poetry who traveled to Iran on a tourist visa as part of a world tour. Western countries have long accused Iran of detaining foreign nationals on fabricated charges, using them as bargaining chips to extract concessions. France has consistently maintained that its citizens held in Iran are “state hostages” who have been arbitrarily detained and are innocent of all charges.

Until earlier this year, Grondeau had been identified only by his first name, but his full identity was revealed by his family in January. In an audio message aired by French media at the time, Grondeau said he and the other two French detainees in Iran were “exhausted” and that their strength was “running out.”

Grondeau, who turns 35 next week, remains hospitalized in France, undergoing extensive medical tests after being severely weakened in recent months, particularly psychologically, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear when he returned to France.

Concerns are growing over the health of the two other French detainees, with Kohler’s family warning that they could die if not released. “Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be freed from Iranian prisons,” Macron reiterated in his message Thursday.