PARIS – A French-German dual national has been reported missing in Iran since mid-June, France’s Minister for Citizens Abroad Laurent Saint-Martin said on Monday, raising concerns amid strained diplomatic relations.
“It’s a worrying disappearance and we are in contact with the family,” Saint-Martin told RTL Radio, noting that France currently lacks specific details about the young man’s whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
The missing individual is reportedly an 18-year-old who was on a cycling trip in the region and vanished just days after Israeli airstrikes targeted sites within Iran, according to French media. While Saint-Martin highlighted Iran’s “deliberate policy of taking Western hostages,” he stopped short of confirming the teen was being held by Iranian authorities.
In a related development, a diplomatic source confirmed that two French nationals, Jacques Paris and Cécile Kohler, have been charged in Iran with espionage for allegedly working with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The pair has been detained for over three years, in a case France has repeatedly denounced as state-sponsored hostage-taking.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who spoke with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi on Sunday, called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of Paris and Kohler. His official statement did not mention the missing teenager.
Kohler’s sister said the duo had been moved from Tehran’s Evin prison after Israeli airstrikes reportedly hit near the facility, but the family has not been informed of their current location.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of foreign or dual nationals in recent years on charges of espionage, which rights groups and Western governments believe are politically motivated and used for leverage in diplomatic negotiations, an accusation Tehran denies.
In May, France filed a legal complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Iran of violating international obligations regarding consular access in the cases of Paris and Kohler.