FRANCE: On Friday, France urged its citizens to leave Iran as soon as possible, claiming they might be subject to arbitrary imprisonment. The French Foreign Ministry stated on its website that “any French tourist, including dual nationals, is exposed to a high risk of arrest, arbitrary detention, and unfair trial.”
Furthermore, the Foreign Ministry stated that “the observance of fundamental rights and security of the person are not guaranteed” in the case of an arrest or detention.
Earlier this week, France criticised Iran for its “dictatorial tactics” and for holding two of its citizens captive amid weeks of turmoil that Tehran has linked to foreign rivals after a video was released on Thursday in which two Iranian citizens appeared to admit to spying.
Cécile Kohler, the president of the National Federation of Education, Culture, and Vocational Training (FNEC FP-FO) teachers union, and her husband Jacque Paris were made to make confessions in a longer-than-expected programme that was broadcast on Thursday by Iranian state media to give the appearance that the protests were organised by foreigners.
In the video, Kohler says in French, “We were in Iran to establish the conditions for the revolution in Iran and the toppling of the Iranian Islamic regime.”
Paris also makes a separate appearance in the film and says, “The DGSE’s objectives are to put pressure on the government.”
“Since May 2022, Jacques Paris and Cecile Kohler have been arbitrarily detained in Iran and are now being held as state hostages. France is once more calling for their prompt release, “the foreign ministry reported.”
“It is disrespectful, repulsive, unacceptable, and against international law that their supposed confessions were staged. The Iranian government’s disdain for human dignity is exposed by this farce. The justifications offered for their arbitrary detention, as well as these purported confessions obtained under duress, are complete and without merit,” the statement carried on.
Earlier on Friday, the French Foreign Ministry demanded that Iran free its two citizens.
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