A demonstration in support of Cécile Kohler, held on her 41st birthday, in Paris, on September 25, 2025. BERTRAND GUAY/AFP
It was just before 7 pm on Tuesday, November 4, when Noémie Kohler received a call from the French Foreign Ministry. As her heart pounded in her chest, she was told that her sister was no longer in detention in Iran, but was now safe with the French authorities in Tehran. "Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, detained for three years in Iran, have left the Evin prison and are on their way to the French embassy in Tehran," tweeted Emmanuel Macron just moments later, expressing "immense relief." The French president spoke with the two French nationals by phone on Wednesday morning. Shortly thereafter, he contacted Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian to call for "their full and complete release, which should take place as soon as possible," according to the Elysée Palace.
Kohler, 41, a literature teacher, and Paris, her 72-year-old partner, described by France as "state hostages," are still prohibited from leaving Iranian territory. "After terrifying years, their exhausted loved ones can finally allow themselves to hope for an end to this ordeal, and it is obviously a relief to know they are safe," said Chirinne Ardakani, the lawyer representing the hostages' families, in the evening. "But they are not free. They will only be free the moment they can embrace their loved ones. Until that moment, we will remain mobilized," she continued.
