Two French nationals sentenced to a total of 63 years in prison on “espionage” charges in Tehran

14 October 2025 23:31

Hengaw – Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to a combined total of 63 years in prison on charges of “espionage” and “intelligence cooperation with Israel” in a joint case.

According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, both Kohler and Paris were convicted by the Tehran Revolutionary Court, each receiving more than 30 years in prison on the aforementioned charges.

The judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, reported the verdict without naming the defendants, stating that one of them was sentenced to six years for “espionage for the French intelligence service,” five years for “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security,” and twenty years in exile for “intelligence cooperation with Israel,” categorized as moharebeh (enmity against God).

The report added that the second defendant received ten years in prison for “espionage for the French intelligence service,” five years for “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security,” and seventeen years for “aiding and abetting intelligence cooperation with Israel.”

In October 2022, Iranian state-controlled media broadcast the forced confessions of the two French nationals under the title “The Story of a Mission.”

In recent years, the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have detained dozens of foreign and dual nationals, often on similar charges such as “espionage” and “acting against national security.”

Kohler, a teacher and member of France’s labor union federation, and her husband, Paris, a retired teacher and secretary-general of the union’s education branch, were arrested on March 9, 2023, during nationwide protests by teachers and workers. The couple had traveled to Iran as tourists. Following their arrests, several other labor activists in Iran were also detained.

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