Two French citizens held in Iran released, returning to France

Iran on Friday released two French citizens jailed in separate cases and they are both now returning to France, the French Foreign Minister said.

French-Irish citizen Bernard Phelan and Benjamin Briere, a French man arrested last year in Iran on espionage charges and released on 12 May 2023. AFP - HANDOUT,-

Bernard Phelan, who also holds Irish nationality, and Benjamin Briere, were freed from their prison in the north-eastern city of Mashhad and are "on their way to France", Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said in a statement published by the Foreign Ministry.

The pair were among some two dozen foreigners jailed in Iran who campaigners see as hostages held in a deliberate strategy by Tehran to extract concessions from the West.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "Free at last. Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phélan will be reunited with their loved ones. It's a relief. I greet their release. Thank you to everyone who was involved in it. We will continue to work for the return of our fellow countrymen still detained in Iran."

Libres, enfin. Benjamin Brière et Bernard Phélan vont retrouver leurs proches. C’est un soulagement. Je salue leur libération. Merci à tous ceux qui ont œuvré à cette issue. Nous continuerons à agir pour le retour de nos compatriotes encore détenus en Iran.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 12, 2023

Phelan, 64, a Paris-based travel consultant, was arrested in October in Mashhad and has been held ever since.

In April, he was jailed for six and a half years on national security charges strongly rejected by his family.

Phelan's family had said his health deteriorated considerably in detention. Phelan went on a dry hunger strike in January to protest his detention but stopped the action at the request of his family, who feared he would die.

Briere, 37, was first detained while travelling in Iran in May 2020 and later sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage.

• Two more French citizens held in Iran, bringing total to seven

He was then acquitted by an appeals court but remained in prison in a situation deemed "incomprehensible" by his family.

Held like Phelan in the prison of Vakilabad in Mashhad, Briere also went on hunger strikes to protest his conditions.

Four more French citizens, described previously as "hostages" by the French foreign ministry, are still being held in prison by Iran.

Colonna said she had spoken earlier Friday to her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian and made clear "France's determination to ensure that the other French citizens still detained in Iran also rapidly regain their full freedom."

The Iranian foreign ministry also said the two had spoken by telephone about the release of Briere and Phelan, which it described as a "humanitarian action".

(with wires)