HRANA – Mizan, a website affiliated with Iran’s Judiciary, has reported that two French citizens have received lengthy prison sentences on charges of “espionage” and “intelligence cooperation with Israel.”

According to HRANA, the Tehran Revolutionary Court issued the initial verdict in the case. Based on Mizan’s report, one defendant was sentenced to 6 years in prison for “espionage on behalf of French intelligence services,” 5 years for “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security,” and 20 years in exile for “intelligence cooperation with Israel,” a charge classified as “enmity against God (moharebeh).”

The second defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “espionage,” 5 years for “assembly and collusion,” and 17 years for “aiding and abetting intelligence cooperation with Israel.”

While the Judiciary’s statement did not name the two defendants, independent media reports and official statements from French authorities indicate that the sentences likely pertain to Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French nationals arrested in Iran in 2022. The French government has repeatedly called for their release, and President Emmanuel Macron reportedly raised their case in a recent meeting with officials of the Islamic Republic.

The two have been held in Evin Prison since their arrest. Their families and French officials have rejected the charges and demanded their immediate release.

According to the Judiciary, the verdicts can be appealed within 20 days of their formal notification to the Supreme Court.