A French citizen returned home to Paris on Thursday after spending 20 months in an Iranian prison, while a dozen other Europeans are still imprisoned.
Louis Arnaud, who was sentenced last year to five years in prison, was accused of taking part in a protest sparked by the death in 2022 of Masha Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s dress code for women.
Arnaud’s family has said he was an innocent traveler.
Three other French citizens are still being held.
Arnaud was welcomed in France by his parents and Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, who said the French nationals were “held arbitrarily.”
While the circumstances of Arnaud’s release were not clear, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked “Omani friends” on X. Oman has mediated between Iran and the West in the past.
France is not the only country with citizens imprisoned in Iran. Britain, Germany and Sweden also have citizens in Iranian jails, some of whom have been sentenced to death.
Five U.S. citizens were released last year. According to the U.S. government, no other U.S. citizens are held in Iran. However, 62-year-old retired Iranian ship captain Shahab Dalili, who has lawful U.S. resident status, has been imprisoned in Iran since 2016 on charges of cooperating with a hostile government that his family denies.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
