The French government said Thursday that this week was announced this week that French citizens who spent more than two years detaining Iran on spy charges.
French President Emmanuel Macron previously denounced an Iranian man, Olivier Grondeau, 34, and two other French citizens as “disgraceful and arbitrary.”
French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barlott described Grondeau’s release as “a huge relief” and called it the result of “unconventional work” by French diplomats, but it was unclear exactly what it was.
Western countries accused Iran of seeking the release of Iranian prisoners overseas and detaining them as diplomatic negotiation tips to free frozen funds.
In January, an Iranian engineer who Italy had detained on a US extradition request was released shortly after Iran released an Italian journalist from prison. And as part of the 2020 prisoner swap, France has secured the release of scholars held in Iran on national security charges.
Grondow was detained in October 2022 while visiting Iran on a tourist visa. Last February, Iranian authorities sentenced him to five years in prison on charges. It is accused that Grondeau and the French government had vehemently refused.
In January, French radio released an audio recording from Grondeau’s prison in Tehran. In the recording, Grondow said that he and the others detained in Iran are “at the heart of political intimidation that has nothing to do with us and will leave us for the purposes of our wisdom.”
The advocacy group created to secure his release said at the time that Grondow was facing “a significant deterioration in his psychological health” and that the detention conditions were “a little more destroying HM every day.”
Footage shot by broadcaster TF1 on Monday evening showed Grondeau arrived at Le Bourgette Airport, north of Paris, where he was greeted by Barott.
Macron said in X: “We share the great joy and relief of his family.”
Two other French citizens in Iran’s custody, Cecil Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been detained for nearly three years on similar spy charges. Barott vowed on Thursday that France is “relentless in our efforts to ensure the release of all our fellow-people.”
