Iran criticises France for case filed at UN court over citizens' detention

France has accused Iran of violating its international obligations

Posters with the portraits of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens held in Iran, in front of the National Assembly in Paris. Reuters

Iran on Monday criticised France for filing a case against it at the International Court of Justice over the detention of two French nationals in conditions Paris denounced as inhumane.

“This move by France is, at best, an attempt to exploit a legal and judicial institution,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, calling the step “pointless” and saying Iran would “defend itself”.

Cecile Kohler, a 40-year-old literature teacher from eastern France and her partner Jacques Paris, in his 70s, were arrested on May 7, 2022, on the last day of a tourist trip to Iran.

The pair are among about 20 Europeans held in Iran in what some European countries regard as a strategy of hostage-taking to extract concessions from the west at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear programme.

A fifth round of US-Iran talks were held on Friday in Rome. The two parties aim for a framework to guide talks, the Wall Street Journal reported, that could mirror a 2013 interim agreement that preceded the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the Obama administration.

In parallel, technical talks between France, the UK and Germany also take place regularly with Iran. If they fail, European countries have threatened to reimpose sanctions on Tehran in October.

In its case at the ICJ, France accused Iran “of violating its obligation to provide consular protection” to the pair, who “have been held hostage … detained in appalling conditions that amount to torture”, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier this month.

Court procedures at the ICJ are expected to take up to two years.

Ms Kohler and Mr Paris are the last known French detainees in Iran and their families say they face tough conditions in jail.

French consular representatives in Iran have been allowed to visit them briefly four times. Paris has said that is insufficient to guarantee their rights under international law and the 1963 Vienna Convention on consular relations. Under the convention, consular representatives should be allowed to inspect detention conditions and provide legal support.

France, as well as other European countries, have in recent years toughened their stance against Iran's human rights breaches and nuclear programme. Relations deteriorated further when it was reported that Iran was supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine, a western ally.