Iran on Monday slammed France for filing a case against it at the International Court of Justice over the detention of two French nationals in conditions Paris denounced as inhumane.
"This move by France is, at best, an attempt to exploit a legal and judicial institution," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, calling the step "pointless" and saying Iran would "defend itself".
Two French nationals, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been held for three years by Iran on spying charges that the pair have vehemently denied. The French government considers the pair to be "state hostages" of the Islamic Republic.
Kohler, a 40-year-old literature teacher from eastern France and her partner Jacques Paris, in his 70s, were arrested on May 7, 2022, on the last day of a tourist trip to Iran.
“They are being held in shameful conditions and have been able to received only four consular visits, under very restrictive conditions”, the French Foreign ministry said in a statement on May 16.
The pair are among around 20 Europeans held in Iran in what some European countries regard as a strategy of hostage-taking to extract concessions from the West at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear programme.
In its case at the ICJ, France accused Iran "of violating its obligation to provide consular protection" to the pair, who "have been held hostage ... detained in appalling conditions that amount to torture," Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said earlier this month.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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