France – Le Figaro, Sept. 25, 2025
In an interview with France 24 on Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron mentioned a “solid prospect” for the release of French citizens held in Iran, whom Paris considers “state hostages,” while saying himself that he was “very cautious.”
The sister of Cécile Kohler, imprisoned in Iran since 2022, said on Thursday that she remains “cautious” despite a “first positive sign in three and a half years” after President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks about a “solid prospect” for the release of French detainees.
Cécile Kohler, a 40-year-old literature teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, a 72-year-old retired teacher, were arrested on May 7, 2022, on the last day of a tourist trip to Iran. They are accused in particular of spying for Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, and face the death penalty.
“This is the first positive sign in three and a half years (…) but we’re taking it cautiously because we know nothing is settled until they’re on the plane out of Iranian airspace,” Noémie Kohler told AFP.
“We remember certain stories like that of Benjamin Brière, who spent three years there (2020-2023), whose release everyone had announced, who went through every door of the prison up to the last one, only to be sent back to his cell at the last moment for three more months of captivity,” she stressed.
“We’re in total uncertainty”
In his France 24 interview Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron again spoke of a “solid prospect” for the release of French citizens detained in Iran, whom Paris considers “state hostages,” while stressing he was “very cautious.”
“We have no certainty that it actually concerns Cécile and Jacques — we’re in total uncertainty,” added Noémie Kohler, referring also to another national held in Iran, a 19-year-old Franco-German named Lennart Monterlos, arrested in June during the brief war between Iran and Israel while cycling from Europe to Asia.
On September 11, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that an agreement to exchange French prisoners in Iran for an Iranian woman detained in France was nearing its “final stage.” This exchange involves Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman arrested in France in February for promoting terrorism on social media.
