Sawt Falasteen - Iran frees Frenchman after nearly 900-day prison ordeal

Grondeau, 34, "is free and with his loved ones", Macron posted on X.

He added that "our mobilisation will not weaken" to ensure the release of two other French citizens still detained by Iran in what Paris views as state hostage-taking.

Grondeau arrived in France on Monday evening after an almost 900-day ordeal, the Elysee Palace and a diplomatic source told AFP.

No further details on the circumstances of Grondeau's release were made available.

Grondeau, who is from Montpellier in the south of France, remains in hospital undergoing a battery of tests, having been severely weakened in recent months, particularly psychologically, a government source told AFP, asking not to be named.

"It is a great joy to have Olivier back, since he is innocent of all charges and has always belonged among us," his French lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani, told AFP.

The other two French nationals are Cecile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner, Jacques Paris, who were detained in May 2022. They are accused of seeking to stir up labour protests, accusations their families have denied.

Western countries have for years accused Iran of detaining their nationals on trumped-up charges in a policy of state hostage-taking to use them as bargaining chips to extract concessions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot posted a picture of a smiling Grondeau on a plane returning home.

"Held hostage in Iran for 887 days, he has been reunited with his family, loved ones, and his country. It's a huge relief," Barrot said on X.

Grondeau, who turns 35 next week, was arrested in Shiraz, southern Iran, in October 2022 and sentenced to five years in prison for "conspiracy against the Islamic republic".

His family rejected the charges, describing Grondeau as a passionate fan of Persian poetry who went to Iran on a tourist visa as part of a world tour.

France describes its nationals held by Iran as "state hostages" who have been arbitrarily detained and are innocent of all the charges against them.

- 'Dying slow death' -

Until earlier this year, Grondeau had been identified only by his first name but his full identity was revealed by his family in January.

In an audio message aired by French media at the time, Grondeau said he and the other two French detainees in Iran were "exhausted" and their strength was "running out".

There has been growing concern over the health of the two other French citizens held by Iran, with Kohler's family warning that they risked dying if they were not freed.

"Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be freed from Iranian prisons," Macron said in his message.

Ardakani, who also represents Kohler, emphasised the need to keep fighting for the two French nationals still detained in Iran.

"Their jailers will have to answer for their criminal acts, including before the French courts," she said.

"I am thinking of my client, still incarcerated in section 209 of Evin prison," she said, adding that Kohler was kept in a windowless cell of just eight square metres (86 square feet) "under continuous video surveillance" and had to sleep on the floor.

They are "dying a slow death," Cecile's sister Noemie Kohler said in early March.

Another French detainee, Louis Arnaud, held in Iran since September 2022, was released in June 2024.

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