Two French nationals have been handed lengthy prison sentences by a court in Iran after being convicted of espionage, Iranian state media reports.
The reports do not name the defendants but they are believed to be Cecile Kohler, 40, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72, the only French nationals being held in Iran. They were arrested in May 2022 during a tourist trip.
The pair have been found guilty of spying on behalf of both France and Israel, the reports say.
The announcement comes more than a month after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal to exchange French detainees for an Iranian woman held in France was nearly complete.
Iran has previously said Kohler and Paris could be released as part of that agreement.
Another French tourist, Olivier Grondeau, 34, was released by Iran earlier this year after being handed a five-year prison sentence for “conspiracy against the Islamic republic”.
Iran’s judicial news agency Mizan said one of the defendants was sentenced to six years in prison for spying for France, five years for conspiracy against national security and 20 years in exile for “intelligence co-operation” with Israel.
The other was sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for France, five years for conspiring against national security and 20 years in exile for being complicit in intelligence co-operation with Israel.
Under Iranian law, jail sentences run concurrently. It is unclear what “exile” entails, though in other instances convicts have been sent to remote areas.
Mizan reports that their pre-trial detention would be deducted from their sentences and that the verdict could be contested within 20 days.
France has accused Iran of holding Kohler and Paris arbitrarily and keeping them in conditions akin to torture. Iran denies the claims.
Human rights groups say tourists and dual nationals are often held for leverage in diplomatic negotiations, released only when Iran gets something in return.
The release of British-Iranian nationals Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori in 2022, after years in detention, came after months of negotiation that saw the UK settle a debt of nearly £400m dating from the 1970s.
Kohler and Paris were touted as exchangeable for Mahdieh Esfandiari, who has been held in France since February on charges of promoting terrorism on social media. Iran has repeatedly called her detention arbitrary.
Iran is thought to currently hold around 20 Europeans in detention, according to AFP news agency.
These include British couple Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who were detained in January while travelling through Iran on a motorcycling world tour and later charged with espionage.
Their family maintains they are innocent and are being held in “horrific conditions”.
Last week, 18-year-old French-German cyclist Lennart Monterlos was released after an Iranian court acquitted him of espionage charges.
