An Iranian court sentenced two French citizens to a combined 63 years in prison

According to Rokna, citing Associated Press the individuals have been identified as Cecile Kohler and Chuck Paris, both detained since 2022 on charges that France has condemned as “unjustified and baseless.” Reports confirmed the sentencing but did not reveal the names of the accused.

The verdicts, which can be appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court within 20 days, were reportedly issued as Tehran seeks to pressure French authorities to release an Iranian citizen held in France.

The Revolutionary Court in Tehran, which often conducts closed-door hearings where defendants have limited access to evidence, found the pair guilty of working with French intelligence and maintaining ties with Israel. Each was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison, though under Iranian law, convicts generally serve only the lengthiest of their individual sentences.

Iranian media had previously reported that Kohler and Paris were detained after meeting with Iranian teachers involved in protests and participating in an anti-government demonstration. French authorities described them as a teachers’ union representative and her partner who were visiting Iran as tourists.

Concerns about their well-being have increased since the brief Iran-Israel conflict in June, during which Israel targeted a well-known prison in Tehran.

Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Tehran was nearing an agreement with France on a prisoner exchange. The talks reportedly involve Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian translator living in Lyon since 2018, who was detained in February on terrorism-related allegations for social media posts concerning the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, the French government announced last week that Iran had released Lennart Monterlos, a teenage French-German cyclist who went missing in June while traveling across Iran, though Tehran has not publicly confirmed his release.

Iran has long been accused of detaining foreign nationals and dual citizens to use them as leverage in diplomatic negotiations.