On October 14, 2025, Iran’s judiciary announced the sentencing of two French citizens to lengthy prison and internal exile terms, a move that has reignited diplomatic tensions between Tehran and Paris and drawn international scrutiny over Iran’s treatment of foreign detainees. The two individuals, widely identified by French and international media as Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, are accused of espionage on behalf of France and Israel, as well as conspiring against Iran’s national security. The sentences come amid ongoing disputes over detainee exchanges and allegations of political bargaining.
According to Iran’s official Mizan news agency, one of the defendants was sentenced to six years in prison for espionage for France, five years for conspiracy to commit crimes against national security, and twenty years of internal exile for allegedly assisting Israeli intelligence services. The other received ten years for espionage, five years for conspiracy, and seventeen years for aiding Israeli intelligence. As Iranian sentences run concurrently, each will serve only the longest term if the verdicts stand. Both have twenty days to appeal the first-instance verdicts in higher courts.
The identities of the two French nationals were not explicitly named in court documents. However, Kohler and Paris are the only French citizens known to be held in Iran, as reported by France 24 and corroborated by diplomatic sources. The pair were originally detained in May 2022 while concluding a sightseeing trip in Tehran, though Iranian state media have ambiguously stated their arrests occurred in March 2023. Iranian authorities have described the defendants as French intelligence employees and accused them of fomenting unrest in connection with Iran’s main teachers’ union, a claim denied by their families.
The case has drawn comparisons to other high-profile detentions of foreign nationals in Iran, where rights groups and Western governments have long accused Tehran of using prisoners as political bargaining chips—an allegation Iran vehemently rejects. According to Reuters, France has repeatedly lobbied for the release of Kohler and Paris, denouncing their lengthy detention as arbitrary and condemning the conditions in which they are held at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. French officials allege that the pair have been denied proper consular access and subjected to treatment tantamount to torture, charges that Iranian authorities deny.
Iran, for its part, has sought the release of Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in Lyon who was detained in France earlier this year on charges of promoting terrorism linked to anti-Israel social media posts. Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir was quoted by Mizan as saying, “The Human Rights Headquarters, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, is making every effort for the unconditional release of our compatriot.” Jahangir further described the accusations against Esfandiari as “baseless,” adding, “Support for the people of Palestine and opposition to genocide in Gaza cannot be considered a crime.”
The dispute over detainees has played out on the diplomatic stage as well. In September, France withdrew its case against Iran at the International Court of Justice regarding the detention of Kohler and Paris. This move followed a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York and was widely interpreted as a gesture toward reviving stalled prisoner-exchange talks. Both sides have since suggested that some progress has been made on a framework for a potential swap, though no agreement has yet been finalized.
Notably, the Iranian judiciary claims that both French defendants had access to lawyers and family during the proceedings—a point disputed by their relatives and rights groups, who argue that the legal process in Iranian security cases is opaque and unfair. Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian academic who herself was detained in Iran in 2019, criticized the court system, telling RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, “There is no independent court in Iran. We’re all spies unless proven otherwise.” Adelkhah also highlighted the harsh conditions faced by Kohler, who is reportedly being held in solitary confinement, and called the proceedings “Kafkaesque.”
The broader context for these sentences is a marked escalation in Iran’s crackdown on alleged espionage and its tightening of legal penalties. On October 1, Iran’s Guardian Council approved harsher sentences for spying and collaboration with Israel and the United States, a move that came just days before the announcement of the French citizens’ sentences. At the same time, a United Nations panel revealed that Iranian authorities have executed more than 1,000 people since the start of 2025—a figure that Amnesty International described as the highest in at least fifteen years. UN human rights experts have condemned what they call a “dramatic escalation” in executions and repression in Iran.
While the French pair’s legal ordeal continues, a separate case involving a 19-year-old Franco-German cyclist, Lennart Monterlos, offers a rare glimmer of hope. Monterlos was acquitted of espionage charges and released last week after being detained in Iran, according to France 24. His release stands in sharp contrast to the fate of Kohler and Paris, underscoring the unpredictable and often politicized nature of such cases in Iran.
Meanwhile, the issue of foreign detainees in Iran is not limited to French nationals. On the same day as the sentencing announcement, the family of a British woman detained in Iran reported that she had been moved to Evin Prison, where her husband is also held, following reports of protests and hunger strikes over squalid conditions in the women’s facility. The couple, Lindsay and Craig Foreman, were detained in January while traveling through central Iran. Their relatives expect to meet with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper later this week to discuss their plight.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of foreign and dual nationals in recent years, often on charges related to espionage or alleged cooperation with Israel. Tehran insists that all such cases are handled through “legal and transparent” procedures and denies using detainees as leverage in international negotiations. France, however, continues to demand the “immediate and unconditional” release of its citizens, maintaining that their detention is both arbitrary and unjust.
As legal appeals proceed and diplomatic channels remain open, the fate of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris hangs in the balance—a stark reminder of the human cost of geopolitical strife and the enduring complexities of international justice.