Iran is releasing a French tourist who has been going on since 2022, Macron says

The French tourist, detained by the Iranian authorities for more than two years, was released and returned to France, said President Emmanuel Macron.

34 -year -old Olivier Grond “Free”, and with his family Macron wrote on X on Thursday, adding: “We share the great happiness and relief of his family.”

Mr. Grond was arrested in southern Iran in October 2022 and sentenced to five years in prison for “conspiracy against the Islamic Republic”. His family always denied the allegations.

In recent years, the Iranian regime has arrested many tourists and double citizens, mainly by espionage and national security charges.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Nael Baro posted a picture of Mr. Grondo on a plane returned home on Thursday.

“Looking in the hostages in Iran for 887 days, he reunited with his family, close and his country. It is a huge relief,” he wrote.

Speaking publicly for the first time after his arrest in January, Mr. Gronda said the authorities were “held hostage”.

His family called him a passionate supporter of Persian poetry, which went to Iran on a tourist visa within the framework of the world tour.

Currently, two more French citizens are being held in Iran.

Cecil Color, teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, were detained in May 2022 and accused of trying to shake the protests that their families denied.

The concern of their health is growing, and France has repeatedly lobbied their release.

“Cecil Color and Jacques Paris should be released from Iranian prisons,” Macron said in his post on Thursday.

Human rights groups say that tourists and double citizens are often held for the use of diplomatic negotiations only when Iran receives something in return.

Last month, the British foreign service confirmed that the British couple – Craig and Lindsay Forman – were detained.

They were accused of espionage when Iranian state media reported that they were held in the southeastern city of Kerman.

In January, 29 -year -old Italian journalist Cecilia Sala returned to Rome, spending weeks in Iranian prison. The reports state that she was kept in solitary imprisonment in the notorious prison of Evin Tehran.