Iran: French visitors invited by Paris to leave the country “as soon as possible” – Le Monde

Iranian riot police, on motorcycles, in Tehran, October 3, 2022. WANA NEWS AGENCY / VIA REUTERS French people “passing through Iran are invited to leave the country as soon as possible given the risk of arbitrary detention to which they expose themselves”, alert, Friday, October 7, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an update of advice to travelers, on its site. “Any French visitor, including binationals, is exposed to a high risk of arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial”, indicates the ministry, specifying that “this risk also concerns people making a simple tourist visit”, and that “in the event of arrest or detention, respect for fundamental rights and personal security are not guaranteed”. The ministry explains that “the ability of the French embassy in Tehran to provide consular protection for nationals arrested or detained in Iran is very limited”. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Iran, growing mistrust between the population and the regime A video of “confessions” of spy This alert comes the day after the broadcast of a video “confession” of spy of two French people arrested in May in Iran, on the website of the Arabic-speaking channel al-Alam of the official television. In this sequence, a young woman speaking French claims to be called Cécile Kohler and to be an operational intelligence agent at the Directorate General for External Security (DGSE, French intelligence service). The woman claims that she and her husband were in Iran “to prepare the conditions for the revolution and the overthrow of the Iranian regime”. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced this “revolting video”, which “features false confessions, extorted under duress”, and the families of the French couple alerted on Friday to “inhuman conditions of detention (… ) for spurious reasons”, with “unimaginable psychological pressure”. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Iran, the repression also affects celebrities The couple is “deprived of lawyers and consular access is constantly denied to them”, specifies the press release sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP ) by the families of Jacques Paris and Cécile Kohler. Paris demanded “the immediate release of [nos] compatriots arbitrarily detained”. The two French were arrested last May at a time when Iran was the scene of demonstrations by teachers demanding reforms for an increase in their salaries and calling for the release of colleagues arrested during previous mobilizations. “Jacques and Cécile are not DGSE agents,” their families say. “Cécile is a French teacher. Jacques is retired from National Education”, further specifies the press release from the families, according to which the couple had gone to Iran as “tourists”. Iran has repeatedly accused outside forces of stoking protests and said last week that nine foreign nationals, including from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands, had been arrested . Protests A photo obtained by Agence France-Presse on October 7, 2022 shows a fountain with its water colored red in front of the Artists’ Forum, in Honarmandan Park, in the Iranian capital Tehran. – / AFP The country is currently going through a major social crisis. Anger over the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini has sparked the largest protests in nearly three years. This 22-year-old Iranian Kurd died three days after her arrest in Tehran by the morality police for breaching the strict dress code imposing in particular on women to wear the veil in the country. According to a medical report released Friday by the Islamic Republic, his death in custody was related to a brain disease and was not caused by beatings. But the protests continue. According to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), at least 92 protesters have been killed in the crackdown, which has been accompanied by restrictions on internet access, including blocking of Instagram and WhatsApp. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Iran, the awareness of youth: “It is a generation that does not easily accept what is dictated to it” In a video published online Thursday and authenticated by the AFP, a group of women sings “death to the dictator” in Racht, in the North. Other images show women shouting “Azadi” (“freedom” in Persian) and clapping loudly as they walk down a street in Quds, west of Tehran. In the capital, an anonymous artist has also colored water fountains red in reference to this bloody repression. Amnesty International says it has confirmed 52 cases of people killed by security forces, but estimates that “the real number is much higher”. The World with AFP