May 12. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Iranian authorities have released this Friday two French citizens detained in the country on suspicion of “espionage” and “attacking national security”, as confirmed by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
“Free, at last. Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phélan are going to meet their loved ones. It’s a relief,” Macron said through his account on the social network Twitter. “I applaud his release. Thanks to everyone who has participated in this matter. We will continue working for the return of our compatriots still detained in Iran,” he added.
Briére, 37, was arrested in May 2020 accused of acts of “espionage”, while Phélan, 64, a Franco-Irish national, was arrested in October 2022 when he was in the country as a tourist for a supposed “attack against national security”. Both were reportedly released due to their deteriorating state of health in a prison in the city of Mashhad (northeast).
In this line, the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, has stressed that both are already “on their way to France” and has detailed that “they received medical treatment after their release from prison.” “I am delighted that they will soon be able to find their loved ones in Paris,” she argued, according to a statement published by the diplomatic portfolio.
“Throughout this detention in the Mashhad prison, our compatriots and their families have had the permanent support of our diplomacy, in particular our Embassy in Tehran and the Crisis and Support Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said. said, while confirming that he had a conversation earlier in the day with his Iranian counterpart, Hosein Amirabdolahian.
“I have transferred France’s determination to guarantee that the other French citizens still detained in Iran also quickly recover their full freedom and benefit from their right to consular protection,” he said, while Tehran pointed out that the releases would be part of a “humanitarian measure”, as reported by the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
In this sense, Amirabdolahian has affirmed that Paris has adopted “a realistic position” towards Iran and has asked the French authorities to take steps to apply Macron’s commitment to “strategic independence”. Both ministers have also addressed the Iranian nuclear program and Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
