French couple leave Iran after more than three years in jail

A French couple who spent more than three years in an Iranian prison on espionage charges are on their way home, French President Emmanuel Macron says.

Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, were arrested during a tourist trip in May 2022 on spying charges that France said were baseless, and held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

They were freed in November and had been under house arrest at the French embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, ever since.

"This is a relief for all of us and obviously for their families," Macron posted on X on Tuesday. He also thanked Oman "for their mediation efforts".

A French foreign ministry source told the AFP news agency that the couple left Iran at dawn Tuesday in a diplomatic convoy with the French ambassador and had travelled to neighbouring Azerbaijan.

France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, has not given details of couple's movements but said they were "free at last" and that he had spoken to them by phone.

"They told me of their emotion and joy at soon being reunited with their country and their loved ones," he wrote on X.

Paris's daughter, Anne-Laure Paris, told AFP: "We are waiting for their return to France so we can give them a big hug."

In October, an Iranian court sentenced Paris to 17 years and Kohler 20 years for allegedly spying for France and Israel.

They were released after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal to exchange French detainees for an Iranian woman, Mahdieh Esfandiari, was nearly complete.

Iran said at the time that Kohler and Paris could be released as part of that agreement, but the French government did not confirm the existence of such an arrangement.

Esfandiari was convicted in February for glorifying terrorism in social media posts. The Iranian authorities repeatedly said had been held unjustly since her arrest in France in February 2025.

Esfandiari's lawyer told AFP on Tuesday that her client's house arrest in France had ended as a result of Kohler and Paris being allowed to leave Iran.

The Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that the release of Kohler and Paris was part of an agreement between France and Iran, which also included the full release of Esfandiari.

The French government has not commented on what was agreed but Barrot spoke of the "long-term work" that foreign ministry teams carried out to "achieve this result".

"We are grateful to our ambassador and staff in Tehran who, under extremely difficult conditions, ensured the safety of our citizens and their safe departure from Iran," he added.

The release of the French detainees comes during the ongoing war in the Middle East, which began in late February when the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran.

Tehran has responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf. The fighting escalated quickly, spreading to Lebanon, with casualties and damage mounting on all sides.

France and other European countries have supported some US operations in the region, but have so far resisted getting dragged into the conflict.