A French citizen who spent over two years in detention in Iran on spying fees was launched this week, the French authorities mentioned on Thursday.
President Emmanuel Macron of France had earlier denounced Iran’s detention of the person, Olivier Grondeau, 34, and two different French residents as “disgraceful and arbitrary.”
Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s international minister, on Thursday described Mr. Grondeau’s launch as a “enormous aid” and mentioned it was the results of “tireless work” by French diplomats, though it was unclear what precisely that concerned.
Western international locations have accused Iran of detaining individuals to make use of them as diplomatic bargaining chips to press for the discharge of Iranian prisoners overseas or to free frozen funds.
In January, an Iranian engineer whom Italy had detained on an American extradition request was freed shortly after Iran launched an Italian journalist from jail. And as a part of a prisoner swap in 2020, France secured the discharge of an educational who had been held in Iran on nationwide safety fees.
Mr. Grondeau was detained in October 2022 whereas visiting Iran on a vacationer visa. In February of final yr, the Iranian authorities sentenced him to 5 years in jail on spying fees — accusations that Mr. Grondeau and the French authorities strenuously rejected.
In January, French radio revealed an audio recording from Mr. Grondeau’s jail cell in Tehran. Within the recording, Mr. Grondeau mentioned that he and others being held in Iran had been “on the coronary heart of political blackmail that has nothing to do with us, and leaves us at our wits’ finish.”
An advocacy group created to safe his launch mentioned on the time that Mr. Grondeau was dealing with “vital deterioration of his psychological well being” and that the detention situations had been “destroying hm somewhat extra every day.”
On Monday night, footage filmed by the broadcaster TF1 confirmed Mr. Grondeau arriving at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, the place he was greeted by Mr. Barrot.
Mr. Macron mentioned on X, “We share his household’s immense pleasure and aid.”
Two different French residents in Iranian custody, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been detained for practically three years on comparable spying fees. Mr. Barrot vowed on Thursday that France could be “relentless in our efforts to safe the discharge of all our compatriots nonetheless held hostage.”