Iran frees Frenchman after nearly 900-day prison ordeal

French citizen Olivier Grondeau, detained by Iran since October 2022 on security charges but described by his family as an innocent tourist, has returned to France after being released, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday.

Iranian authorities allowed another French national, who was under house arrest in Iran for several months and has requested anonymity, to also leave the country, sources familiar with the case told AFP on Thursday.

Macron vowed to do everything to ensure the release of two other French citizens still held by Iran, while several other European nationals remain behind bars in the Islamic republic.

The moves come ahead of an approaching critical juncture in the decades-long standoff over the Iranian nuclear programme, with US President Donald Trump writing the leadership a letter urging more talks on the issue.

Western countries have for years accused Iran of detaining their nationals on trumped-up charges in a policy of state hostage-taking to use them as bargaining chips to extract concessions.

Grondeau, 34, "is free and with his loved ones", Macron posted on X.

He added that "our mobilisation will not weaken" to ensure the release of Cecile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner, Jacques Paris, who were detained in May 2022.

They are accused of seeking to stir up labour protests, accusations their families have denied.

Grondeau arrived in France on Monday evening, the Elysee Palace and a diplomatic source told AFP. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X he had been "held hostage in Iran for 887 days".

- 'Pressure on Iran' -

No further details on the circumstances of Grondeau's release were made available. There were also no further details in the case of the second national who had been held under house arrest.

Exiled Iranian opposition group the People's Mujahedin (MEK), which is outlawed by Tehran, meanwhile alleged that Grondeau's release has been linked to an article that appeared this week in French media accusing its leader Maryam Rajavi of lavish spending at a spa resort.

The piece in satirical weekly Canard Enchaine was "demonisation and character assassination", Shahin Ghobadi, spokesman of the MEK's political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told AFP.

"There is clearly a quid-pro-quo and this is what Tehran gets in return," he said.

Speaking to TF1 television, Barrot denied France had given anything in return for the release of Grondeau which he said was the result of "continued pressure" on Iran.

Grondeau, who is from Montpellier in the south of France, remains in hospital undergoing a battery of tests, having been severely weakened in recent months, particularly psychologically, a government source told AFP, asking not to be named.

"It is a great joy to have Olivier back, since he is innocent of all charges and has always belonged among us," his French lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani, told AFP.

Grondeau, who turns 35 next week, was arrested in Shiraz, southern Iran, in October 2022 and sentenced to five years in prison for "conspiracy against the Islamic republic" including espionage.

His family rejected the charges, describing Grondeau as a passionate fan of Persian poetry who went to Iran on a tourist visa as part of a world tour.

- 'Dying slow death' -

Until earlier this year, Grondeau had been identified only by his first name but his full identity was revealed by his family in January.

In an audio message aired by French media at the time, Grondeau said he and the other two French detainees in Iran were "exhausted" and their strength was "running out".

There has been growing concern over the health of the two other French citizens held by Iran, with Kohler's family warning that they risked dying if they were not freed.

"Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be freed from Iranian prisons," Macron said in his message.

Ardakani, who also represents Kohler, said she was kept in a windowless cell of just eight square metres (86 square feet) "under continuous video surveillance" and had to sleep on the floor.

They are "dying a slow death," Cecile's sister Noemie Kohler said in early March.

Over half a dozen European nationals still known to be held include Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was arrested during a visit to Iran in April 2016 and sentenced to death in 2017 on charges of spying.

Around 20 Westerners are held in Iran, a French diplomatic source, asking not to be named, told AFP on Thursday.