France today filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Iran for "breach of obligations to provide consular protection" to two French citizens who are still detained in the country, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Cécile Kohler and Jacques Parry "have been held hostage in Iran for three years, held in indecent conditions that amount to torture, and deprived of so-called consular visits", Barrot told France 2 television.
The French foreign minister said in early April that Paris was preparing to refer the problem to the ICC if no progress was made in resolving it. The announcement was hailed as a "turning point" by Cecile Kohler's sister.
The complaint to the ICC was filed shortly before today's meeting in Turkey of Iranian nuclear negotiators with their counterparts from Britain, France and Germany.
Teacher Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Parry, whom France describes as "state hostages", were arrested in May 2022 on espionage charges and have since been held in extremely harsh conditions in a single cell in Tehran's Evin prison.
They are officially the last two French citizens held in Iran. Olivier Grondeau, who had been detained since October 2022, was released in March.
Around twenty Western citizens are currently in Iranian prisons. European authorities and NGOs accuse Tehran of "hostile diplomacy".