French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot spoke on March 7 with Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French nationals assigned to the French embassy in Tehran amid US-Israeli bombings. The two, released in November after years in detention, await a possible exchange with an Iranian woman sentenced in France. Barrot ruled out evacuating the embassy to ensure their safety.
On March 7, 2026, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced he had spoken with Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens assigned to the French embassy in Tehran. The Iranian capital has been under US-Israeli strikes for a week, according to the sources.
“I spoke with them today. They are going through a very difficult ordeal and they are showing, as they have for nearly four years, extraordinary courage,” Barrot said on France 5. He added: “We will continue to do everything to obtain their immediate return to France and their definitive release,” noting he had passed messages to that effect to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghtchi, during a meeting the previous Wednesday.
Kohler and Paris were detained in Iran for over three years. Sentenced in October 2025 to twenty and seventeen years in prison respectively for espionage on behalf of Israel among others, they were released in early November but barred from leaving Iranian territory. They now reside at the embassy awaiting a potential exchange with Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian national sentenced to one year in prison by French courts on February 26.
The families of the two French nationals expressed being “very worried” on Tuesday due to the bombings in Tehran. Barrot has ruled out evacuating diplomatic staff for now: “The diplomatic personnel in Tehran are carrying out their mission in a very degraded context, showing a lot of dedication. And part of the mission is precisely to ensure the safety of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris. (…) They will continue to carry out their mission. It is their honor.”
