France warns it may reimpose sanctions on Iran if two detained French nationals are not released. The pair are charged with spying for Israel’s Mossad, allegations Paris rejects.
France signaled Thursday it may reimpose sanctions on Iran if two of its citizens, detained since 2022, are not released, AFP reported.
The warning follows Iran’s latest charges accusing the pair of espionage for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
“Freeing Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris is an absolute priority for us,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, as quoted by AFP. “We have always told our interlocutors from the Iranian regime that any decisions on sanctions will be conditional on resolving this issue.”
Diplomatic and family sources say Kohler, 40, and Paris, 72, are also accused of attempting to overthrow the regime and “corruption of Earth,” charges that could carry the death penalty.
Tehran has not officially confirmed the new charges, while a French diplomatic source dismissed them as “completely unfounded.”
The developments come amid mounting tensions with Iran, which this week suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in response to last month’s Israel-Iran conflict, which included unprecedented strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The E3 nations – France, Britain, and Germany – signatories to the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, have been at the forefront of international efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear program. They recently successfully sponsored a resolution, approved by the IAEA board of governors, declaring Iran in breach of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
The recent IAEA resolution opens the door for European officials to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council later this summer if nuclear talks show no progress, a move separate from the “snapback mechanism” to reimpose UN sanctions before the 2015 accord expires on October 18. Diplomats indicate the E3 had considered an end-of-August deadline for initiating the snapback.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently issued a stark warning to European powers, cautioning that any move to trigger UN sanctions on Tehran could lead to a serious and potentially irreversible escalation in tensions.
