The pair were held in prison for over three years / © FAMILY HANDOUT/AFP/File
Iran released from prison a French pair held for more than three years and sentenced to lengthy jail sentences on espionage charges their families always rejected, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday, but it remained uncertain when the Islamic republic would allow them to return home.
Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72 were arrested in May 2022 at the end of a trip to Iran that their families say was purely touristic in nature.
Both teachers, although he is retired, they were among a number of Europeans caught up in what activists and some Western governments including France describe as a deliberate strategy of hostage-taking by Iran to extract concessions from the West.
Expressing "immense relief", Macron said on X the pair had been released from the notorious Evin prison in northern Tehran and were on their way to the French embassy.
He welcomed this "first step" and said talks were under way to ensure their return to France as "quickly as possible".
In Tehran, the foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said they had been granted "conditional release" on bail by the judge in charge of the case and "will be placed under surveillance until the next stage of the judicial proceedings."
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France 2 TV they were in "good health" at the residence of the French ambassador but declined to give details on when they would be allowed to leave Iran.
"We will not spare any effort. It's a first step towards their definitive release," he said, adding he had already spoken to Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
Their Paris-based legal team said in a statement to AFP that the release had "ended their arbitrary detention which lasted 1,277 days".
- 'State hostages' -
The release comes at a time of acute sensitivity in dealings between Tehran and the West in the wake of Israel's 12-day June war against the Islamic republic and the reimposition of UN sanctions in the standoff over the Iranian nuclear drive.
Kohler and Paris were the last two French citizens officially known to be held by Tehran after several other French nationals were released over the last months.
France has described them as "state hostages".
Their sentences on charges of spying for France and Israel issued last month after a closed door trial amounted to 17 years in prison for Paris and 20 years for Kohler.
Concern grew over their health after they were moved from Evin following an Israeli strike on the prison during the June war.
Kohler was shown in October 2022 on Iranian television in what activists described as a "forced confession", a practice relatively common for detainees in Iran which rights groups say is equivalent to torture.
Her parents Pascal and Mireille told AFP in a statement that they felt "immense relief" that the pair were now in a "little corner of France" even if "all we know for now is that they are out of prison".
- 'Fruit of French diplomacy' -
France had filed a case with the Hague-based International Court of Justice over the couple's detention, saying they were held under a policy that "targets French nationals travelling in or visiting Iran".
There had been repeated rallies calling for their release / © AFP/File
But in September, the ICJ suddenly dropped the case at France's request, sparking speculation that closed-door talks were under way between France and Iran for their release.
Iran, which has previously carried out exchanges of Westerners for Iranians held by the West, has said they could be freed as part of a swap deal with France, which would also see the release of Iranian Mahdieh Esfandiari.
Esfandiari was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media, according to French authorities.
She is to go on trial in Paris from January 13 but was last month released on bail by the French judicial authorities in a move welcomed by Tehran.
Asked by France 2 if there had been a deal with Tehran, Barrot declined to comment, saying their release had come about "as the fruit of the work of French diplomacy".
Among the Europeans still jailed by Iran is Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges his family vehemently rejects.
