The French foreign ministry said on Thursday that it is planning to take Iran to the International Court of Justice, ICJ, over two French citizens held in Iran for almost three years without consular services.
Media Talk Africa reports that Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held since May 2022.
Iranian state television aired a video later that year with them appearing to confess to acting on behalf of French intelligence services, something Paris categorically denied.
Held in Tehran’s Evin prison, France has accused Iran of keeping them in conditions akin to torture.
French officials have toughened their language towards Iran, notably over the advancement of its nuclear programme and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.
Speaking after a rare cabinet meeting to broadly discuss Iran on Wednesday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot indicated Paris would soon take the matter of violating the right to consular protection to the ICJ.
“We are putting together a complaint that we will file at the ICJ,” Foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.
