Iran is using war to cover up executions of political dissidents, activists claim
Iranian activist Sheyda Rahbari describes the increase in the number of executions of political dissidents by the terrorist Islamic regime. She notes that the regime is increasingly putting pressure on its people and openly threatening them with arrest and execution. Rahbari cites the execution of an 18-year-old protester, Amir Hussein Hamedi, as a heartbreaking example of the regime’s brutality.
French citizens Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris were released by Iran on Tuesday after “three and a half years of detention,” President Emmanuel Macron announced.
The pair, who were arrested in May 2022 while visiting Iran, were accused by Iranian state television of being spies trying to foment unrest. according to Reuters. France has previously described their detention as unjustified and unfounded.
“Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on their way to French territory, after three and a half years of detention in Iran. This is a relief for all of us and of course for their families,” Macron wrote on X.
“Thanks to the Omani authorities for their mediation efforts, to the state services and to the citizens who mobilized tirelessly and thus contributed to their return,” he added.
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A woman walks past posters of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French nationals held in Iran, during support rallies outside the National Assembly in Paris on May 7, 2025, to mark their three years of detention and their release. (Abdul Saboor/Reuters)
The nonprofit organization United Against Nuclear Iran Kohler described as head of a federation of teachers’ unions in France, with Paris as its partner.
The French Foreign Ministry said last May that Kohler and Paris were being held as “state hostages by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
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French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference in London, England on July 10, 2025. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
“They are being held in shameful conditions and have only been able to receive four consular visits, under very restrictive conditions,” the ministry said at the time.
Iranian authorities released the pair from prison in November but did not allow them to leave the country, according to The Associated Press.
Noemie Kohler, sister of Cecile Kohler, and Anne-Laure Paris, daughter of Jacques Paris, attend a press conference on June 27, 2025 in Paris, France. Both are relatives of French nationals held in Iran. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
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French officials said they were then held safely at the French embassy in Tehran until their departure from Iran on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
