Overview
- Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle on Wednesday morning after Iran let them depart, then met President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée.
- The teachers were arrested in May 2022, convicted at a closed trial, moved from Evin prison to the French embassy in November, and finally left Iran on Tuesday in a convoy to Baku.
- Omani mediation was central to the outcome, and a French diplomatic source said President Donald Trump’s threat of strikes on Monday probably tipped Tehran to allow their exit.
- Iran’s IRNA said France withdrew an International Court of Justice complaint and reached an understanding over Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, but French officials denied a prisoner swap as her house arrest was lifted Tuesday.
- Kohler and Paris said Evin prison barred reading and writing and used blindfolds, and their case fits a wider pattern of Iran detaining foreign nationals on security charges that Western governments say serves as leverage.