France demands immediate release of 2 nationals held in Iran

By Cindi Cook

PARIS (AA) – France on Thursday condemned the arrest of two French nationals in Iran and called for their immediate release.

In a statement, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said: “The French government condemns this groundless arrest. We call for the immediate release of these two French nationals and will remain fully mobilized for this purpose.”

France’s ambassador in Tehran took up the matter with the authorities there to obtain consular access to the nationals, the ministry added.

The charge d’affaires of the Iranian Embassy in Paris was also summoned to the ministry by the director-general of political and security affairs.

The call for their release comes a day after the individuals had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged “attempt to destabilize the country.”

Iranian state television cited officials as saying that the two detainees were accused of “organizing chaos and social disorder aimed at destabilizing Iran.”

The arrest could be related to a report by French news outlet France24 on Thursday morning about the French teachers union FNEC FP-FO.

Christophe Lalande, the union’s federal secretary, said that one of his member teachers had been missing while on holiday in Iran with her partner. They were supposed to return to France earlier this week.