French man returns home after nearly 900 days in Iranian prison

A French man imprisoned in Iran for almost 900 days has been freed, President Emmanuel Macron has announced.

Olivier Grondeau, 34, was detained in southern Iran in October 2022 while on holiday. He was later sentenced to five years in jail for “conspiracy against the Islamic republic”, a charge his family and the French authorities vehemently deny.

The French government had accused Iran of holding Grondeau hostage, something human rights groups say Tehran does in an attempt to exact concessions from other countries.

Announcing his release, Macron said Grondeau was back in France with his relatives. “We share his family's immense happiness and relief,” he wrote on X.

Until January, Grondeau was only identified by his first name. But then his family decided to go public with his story, at which time French media published an audio message from him.

“One day you think you're going to be freed very quickly, the next you think you'll die here,” he said on the recording.

Grondeau also suggested he was being used as a bargaining chip by Iran.

“You become a human who has been stocked away indefinitely because one government is seeking to exert pressure on another,” he explained.

When his release was made public on Thursday, Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s foreign affairs minister, posted a picture of Grondeau smiling onboard a plane.

“Olivier Grondeau is finally free,” Barrot said. “Taken hostage in Iran for 887 days, he has been reunited with his family, loved ones and his country. It's a tremendous relief.”

“We will tirelessly continue our efforts to ensure that all our compatriots still held hostage, including Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, are also released,” Barrot added.

Macron also mentioned Kohler and Paris, who have been held as Iranian prisoners since May 2022.

“Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be freed from Iranian jails,” the French president said. “All my thoughts are with them and their families on this day.”

Other foreigners held in Iranian prisons include Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple who were detained in January while on an around-the-world motorbike trip.