French pair imprisoned in Iran over alleged spying have ‘reached the limit,’ families say

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PARIS (AP) — The families of two French nationals detained in Iran for more than three years said their loved ones have reached “the limit of what they can endure” following a report that an Iranian court sentenced them to decades in prison on spying charges.

Relatives of Cécile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, told a news conference Thursday that they received a rare phone call Tuesday in which both detainees described their despair.

“For the first time, they told us clearly that they can’t take any more,” said Kohler’s sister, Noémie Kohler. “A few more weeks are beyond their strength.”

Paris’s daughter, Anne-Laure, quoted her father as saying: “I stare death in the face. It’s not possible anymore.”

On Tuesday, Iran’s judiciary outlet Mizan said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran issued a preliminary verdict against two French citizens for “working for French intelligence” and “cooperating with Israel,” without naming them.

The semiofficial Fars agency later identified them as Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris and said the court imposed cumulative terms totaling 63 years across multiple counts. Under Iranian practice, however, only the longest single term is served — meaning 20 years for Kohler and 17 for Paris — and the preliminary verdicts can be appealed to the Supreme Court within 20 days.

The French Foreign Ministry on Thursday described the sentences as “arbitrary” and the charges as “totally unfounded,” and called for their “immediate release.”

Defense lawyer Chirinne Ardakani said the families have received no official notification. “In the absence of access to the criminal file or an independent lawyer, we cannot verify whether any sentence has actually been pronounced,” she said, calling the process “a farce, a comedy.”

Kohler and Paris were arrested in May 2022 while visiting Iran. France has denounced their detention as “unjustified and unfounded.”

Mizan said the case was tried behind closed doors, a common feature of Revolutionary Court proceedings that often limit defendants’ access to evidence. Rights groups and Western governments accuse Tehran of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips — an allegation Iran denies.

The reported sentences come amid tensions over another case: Tehran has pressed Paris to release Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian national detained in France. In September, Iran’s foreign minister said the two countries were close to a prisoner swap.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently said there was a “solid prospect” of securing the pair’s release but added he remained “very cautious.”

For the families, the urgency is now existential.