France – Liberation, Sept. 25, 2025
The President said on the evening of Wednesday, September 24, that he “will have clarifications in the coming weeks” regarding a possible release of “state hostages” held by Tehran.
On the eve of gatherings planned in France this Thursday, September 25, to mark the birthday of Cécile Kohler—who will be spending it in an Iranian prison—Emmanuel Macron addressed on Wednesday evening the case of French citizens whom Paris considers “state hostages” held by Tehran. While stressing he remains “very cautious,” the President of the Republic referred to a “solid prospect” for their release.
“We have a solid prospect, so we’re working on it. We will have clarifications in the coming weeks,” he said in an interview with France 24 and Radio France Internationale. “But I don’t want to be definitive here because unfortunately, it doesn’t depend solely on us,” he added from New York, where he met with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
In a message on the X platform, he emphasized that he had reiterated to his counterpart his “demand”: “Cécile Kohler, Jacques Paris and Lennart Monterlos, state hostages arbitrarily held and in inhumane conditions in Iran, must be released immediately.”
