France’s Macron announces release of Olivier Grondeau from detention in Iran

(Reuters) -French citizen Olivier Grondeau was released from detention in Iran, French President Macron announced on Thursday in a post on X.

“We share his family’s immense happiness and relief,” said Macron.

Grondeau has spent 887 days in detention, said the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in another post while also sharing a photo of the released Frenchman on a homecoming plane.

The Revolutionary Guards, elite corps of the Iranian army, have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners in recent years, mainly on espionage and security charges.

Two other French citizens are still detained in Iran: Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who were arrested in May 2022 during a tourist trip to Iran for alleged “espionage.”

“Our mobilization will not weaken: Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be freed from Iranian jails,” Macron said.

(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz and Benjamin Mallet, Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)