A person with dual French and Iranian citizenship and a German citizen were arrested in Iran more than two weeks ago, Le Figaro reported on Friday.
The French daily newspaper said the pair were detained before February 4 as leverage in anticipation of the sentencing of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi in Belgium that day.
Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in jail for plotting to bomb an Iranian opposition rally in France in 2018.
The French-Iranian was arrested in the desert flying a drone, La Figaro reported.
France's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. German and Iranian officials were not immediately reachable.
The arrests, if confirmed, would come at a sensitive time. On Thursday, the US signalled that it was ready to talk to Iran about how both nations could return to a 2015 agreement aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, the wife of a detained British-Iranian dual citizen said he lost access to phone calls that provided a lifeline to the outside world for the past two weeks.
Anoosheh Ashoori, who is being held in Evin prison in Tehran, is being punished for a series of audio messages he sent from behind bars, including a set of recordings he sent to The National that revealed the plight of prisoners held in the Iranian penal system.
Sherry Ashoori said her husband's mental health was threatened by being cut off and Rob Macaire, the UK's ambassador to Iran, made representations on his behalf in recent days.
The UK, the US, France and Germany also called on Iran to release all arbitrarily detained citizens.
Rights activists accused Iran of arresting dual citizens to try to win concessions from other countries. Tehran denies that it detains people for political reasons and has accused many of the foreign citizens in its jails of espionage.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
