Sawt Falasteen - Iran releases Franco-German accused of spying

Lennart Monterlos is the latest French national to be released from Iranian detention this year, even as others remain in custody.

"Lennart Monterlos is free," said Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, with sources close to the case saying the young man would travel to France on Thursday.

Monterlos was arrested on June 16 in the southern city of Bandar Abbas, on the third day of the brief war between Iran and Israel.

The sports and travel enthusiast had been cycling alone across Iran on a Europe-to-Asia bike trip.

Iran's judiciary announced the espionage accusations against Monterlos would be dropped on Monday.

He had been released from prison over the weekend and was hosted by the French embassy in Tehran while awaiting the paperwork to allow him to leave the Islamic republic, several sources close to the case told AFP.

Monterlos, who has a German mother and a French father and grew up in eastern France, was arrested as he was headed toward the border with Afghanistan, his Iranian visa near expiration.

"We are relieved that our son will return to us," his parents said in a written statement to AFP through their lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani.

- 'Not forgotten' -

France, which has several other nationals imprisoned in the Islamic republic, had condemned Monterlos's detention as arbitrary.

French couple Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, accused of spying for Israel, have been in detention in Iran for nearly three and a half years and face the death penalty.

"I have not forgotten Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, whose immediate release we demand," Barrot said.

Along with other European countries, France suspects Iran of taking Western citizens hostage to trade their freedom for concessions, notably on its nuclear plans and the lifting of economic sanctions.

Iran is believed to hold about 20 Europeans in detention.

Kohler and Paris, who were on the last day of a tourist trip in May 2022, are slated to be part of a potential prisoner swap for an Iranian woman held in France.

Mahdieh Esfandiari was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media, according to French authorities.

Iran has repeatedly called her detention arbitrary but maintains that the French couple were spying on behalf of Israel.

But there have been positive signals from France and Iran for a swap, with Iranian top diplomat Abbas Araghchi saying last month a deal was nearing its final stages.

Barrot said in a media interview on Monday there were "strong prospects of being able to bring them back in the coming weeks".

In March, Frenchman Olivier Grondeau, who had been detained in Iran since October 2022, was released.

Before landing in an Iranian jail, Monterlos was aiming to reach Japan by bike, having set off last year after finishing high school on a 400-day cycling journey across 35 countries.

He had documented his trip on social media, his last post the day before his arrest.

"Am I reckless or brave? You decide in the comments," he wrote on Instagram shortly after he started his trip.

Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST