Iran’s authorities have released French citizen Olivier Grondeau (pictured), detained since October 2022 on security charges, and he has returned to France.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted that Grondeau “is free and with his loved ones”.
Macron assured that “our mobilization will not weaken” for the release of two other French citizens still held by Iran.
Olivier Grondeau est libre, en France, parmi les siens ! Nous partageons l'immense bonheur et soulagement de sa famille.
Je remercie tous les services de l'État, notre ambassadeur en Iran et le Centre de Crise et de Soutien du Quai d'Orsay, de leur action décisive.…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 20, 2025
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot posted a photo of Grondeau on a private jet and declared, “We will tirelessly continue our efforts to ensure that all our compatriots still held hostage, including Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, are in turn released.”
Kohler and Paris were arrested in Tehran in May 2022 as they were concluding a sightseeing holiday.
No details were given over the circumstances around Grondeau’s release.
He was seized by Iranian securities in the city of Shiraz, amid nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, detained and beaten by “morality police”.
Grondeau was held at Tehran’s Evin prison, which holds foreign and dual nationals and political prisoners. His identity was only revealed in January in an audio message broadcast on a French radio station, in which he said he was increasingly exhausted over his ordeal.
Iran’s agencies, notably the Revolutionary GuSaards, have seized a series of foreign and dual nationals for leverage in negotiations, including over Tehran’s nuclear programme and Iranians convicted of crimes overseas.
Some of the nationals, such as UN staffer and Swedish national Johan Floderus and Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, have been freed in prisoner exchanges.
