French tourist Louis Arnaud, detained in Iran since 2022, has been released and will return to France on Thursday. The news was announced on Wednesday evening by French President Emmanuel Macron on X (Twitter), who also said that his release also occurred thanks to the mediation of the government of Oman, a state that shares the waters of the Gulf with Iran of Oman and borders Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Arnaud, who is 35 years old, was arrested in September 2022 while on holiday in Iran on charges of having participated in the large protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman originally from Iranian Kurdistan who died on 16 September 2022 in Tehran under unclear circumstances, after being arrested by the religious police for not wearing the Islamic veil correctly, or hijab.
Three French citizens are still detained in Iran: Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, a couple arrested in May 2022, and a man called Olivier whose full name has not been released. Two other French citizens, Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phelan, were released in May 2023 after going on a hunger strike for their release which left them severely weakened. Iran still holds at least ten Western citizens, although some estimates say it is more, and is accused by other countries and many non-governmental organizations of using them as bargaining chips in inter-state negotiations.
– Read also: Iran has several Westerners in its prisons
