Olivier Grondeau Freed After 887 Days in Iran, Macron Welcomes His Return

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – French national Olivier Grondeau has returned to France after spending nearly 900 days in an Iranian prison, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday. Grondeau, 34, was detained in October 2022 on security-related charges while traveling in Iran on a tourist visa.

“Olivier Grondeau is free, in France, among his family! We share his family’s immense happiness and relief,” Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He also extended gratitude to French diplomatic teams, including the ambassador to Iran and the Quai d'Orsay Crisis and Support Center, for their efforts in securing Grondeau’s release. 

The French leader underscored that France remains committed to securing the freedom of other citizens still imprisoned in Iran. “Our mobilization will not waver: Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris must be freed from Iranian jails. My thoughts go out to them and their families today,” Macron said.

Olivier Grondeau est libre, en France, parmi les siens ! Nous partageons l'immense bonheur et soulagement de sa famille.

Je remercie tous les services de l'État, notre ambassadeur en Iran et le Centre de Crise et de Soutien du Quai d'Orsay, de leur action décisive.…

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 20, 2025

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that Grondeau had been in Iranian custody for 887 days. His arrest and prolonged detention had remained largely undisclosed to the public until last month when he broke his silence in a desperate plea for help.

Grondeau, a former French junior Scrabble champion and an avid traveler, recorded a voice message from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where he shared a cell with 17 others. He passed the message to his family during a weekly phone call, warning that speaking out could lead to reprisals but expressing that he had “very little hope” left. His family, believing quiet diplomacy had failed, shared the message with French media.

“I know that to speak out is to take a risk. But where there is risk, there is hope, and I have very little left. I am really very tired,” Grondeau said in the recording, adding that he had been used as a pawn in Iran’s “political blackmail” against France.

He was one of three French citizens detained in Iran, all considered “state hostages” by French authorities. The other two—Cécile Kohler, 39, a teacher, and Jacques Paris, 71, a retired educator—were also arrested in 2022 while traveling in Iran. Grondeau described their conditions as even worse than his own.

Grondeau had been on an extended global journey, visiting at least 90 countries before the COVID-19 pandemic. He resumed his travels in 2022 but was arrested at a youth hostel in Shiraz, southwest Iran. Convicted of espionage, he was sentenced to five years in prison, a charge he has consistently denied.

“I am innocent,” he said in his message, which was later broadcast by French state radio France Inter. “Everyone around me knows I am innocent. The court which convicted me had no evidence against me.”

His mother, Thérèse, voiced her anguish over his ordeal, describing his fluctuating health, both physically and mentally. “There are times when it’s very good, and then after that, it’s less good—we feel it very clearly. And … now, it’s really less good, especially psychologically,” she told France Inter.

Iran has long been accused of violating human rights and arbitrarily detaining foreign nationals under false charges. Rights organizations and Western governments have repeatedly condemned Iran’s use of hostage diplomacy, where innocent visitors are accused of espionage or other crimes without credible evidence. 

Detainees often endure harsh conditions in notorious prisons like Evin, facing psychological and physical distress. The Iranian regime has used such detentions as a bargaining tool in political negotiations, drawing international criticism and demands for their release.

Grondeau’s release marks a diplomatic victory for France, but the fight continues for the freedom of Kohler and Paris. The French government has vowed to maintain pressure on Tehran to secure their safe return.