The dissemination by Iran of the “confessions” of espionage of two French people arrested in May in the country is “an unworthy, disgusting, unacceptable staging and contrary to international law,” the French Foreign Ministry reacted on Thursday.
“This masquerade reveals the contempt for human dignity that characterizes the Iranian authorities,” the Quai d’Orsay added in a statement, calling for the “immediate release” of the two Frenchmen, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris.
The site of the Arabic channel al-Alam of the official Iranian television broadcast this Thursday what it presents as “confessions” of espionage by two Frenchmen arrested in May in Iran.
In a video montage, a French-speaking woman claims to be Cécile Kohler and to be an operational intelligence officer with the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence service.
arrested in may
Iran announced on May 11 the arrest of two Europeans “who entered the country with the aim of unleashing chaos and destabilizing society.” The French authorities had denounced his arrest “unfounded” and asked for his “immediate release”.
Tehran then accused two “French trade unionists” arrested in May of “undermining the security” of the country in early July.
A French union source had identified them as Cécile Kohler, leader of the Fnec FP-FO teachers’ union, and her husband Jacques Paris. She specified that they were sightseeing in Iran during the Easter holidays at the time of her arrest.
In the recording released Thursday, the woman claims that she and her husband were in Iran “to prepare the conditions for the revolution and the overthrow of the Iranian Islamic regime.”
It was, according to his statements, to finance strikes and demonstrations and even to use weapons “to fight against the police.” According to the man in the video, who also speaks French, the DGSE’s goals “were to put pressure on the government” of Iran.
Source: BFM TV
