French Couple Imprisoned Since 2022 'In Good Health', Says Iran

Tehran, Iran:

Iran said Tuesday that French nationals Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, jailed since 2022, are "in good health", denying recent claims of deteriorating conditions.

"The two are... in good health, so any claim regarding their poor condition is denied," judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters in Tehran, citing a report from the authorities.

Kohler and her partner have been jailed in Iran since May 2022 on charges of espionage, a capital offence in the Islamic republic.

In October 2022, Iran's state television broadcast what it said were "espionage confessions" by the two French detainees.

The French government condemned the airing of the alleged confessions as "shameful, revolting and unacceptable" and described the pair as "state hostages".

Last month, dozens of people held a demonstration in Paris to denounce what Kohler's sister Noemi Kohler described as the "alarming" physical and psychological condition of the pair.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had earlier met with families of French nationals held in Iran and said his government was pushing for their immediate release.

Another French citizen, identified only by his first name, Olivier, has been in detention since October 2022. French authorities have not released details of his case.

They are among several European passport holders in Iranian custody, some of them dual nationals. Iran does not recognise dual citizenship.

On October 28, Iran executed 69-year-old German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, who was sentenced to death in February 2023 for the capital offence of "corruption on Earth".

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