France – Ouest France, February 22, 2025
She “can’t take it anymore.” He shows an even more “haggard” face. Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two of the three French hostages held in Iran, were able to contact their families this Wednesday, who are increasingly alarmed about their health. Two days earlier, the hostages’ families had spoken with President Emmanuel Macron, who assured them of France’s efforts to secure their release, but without providing any timeline for their liberation.
“The news is not good.” The families of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris received a new call from the French hostages held in Iran for nearly three years. It was an alarming video exchange, just two days after President Emmanuel Macron met with the families of the three French nationals detained in Iranian prisons.
“We are terribly worried.”
“Until now, I have been strong. I made sure to protect you by saying I was holding on. I fought, but now, I no longer have the strength,” confides Cécile Kohler, who was able to call her sister Noémie on Wednesday from Evin prison in Tehran, where she is held in a high-security ward. During this WhatsApp video call, as always, it was unexpected and carried out under strict surveillance in the presence of their captors. Cécile Kohler was alongside Jacques Paris, her companion who was arrested at the same time as her during a tourist trip to Iran nearly three years ago. “He had a hollowed-out face; it was a shock for me,” explains Noémie Kohler, who was contacted by Ouest-France on Saturday. She says she is “terrified” by the health condition of the now 72-year-old man. “His face haunts me. We are terribly worried,” affirms Noémie Kohler.
“She is very, very pale.”
