France calls on its citizens: Leave this country immediately, your safety is at risk! – New time

The French government on Friday called on its citizens in Iran to leave the country “as soon as possible” as their security is at risk. AFP informs about it. “All visitors from France, including dual nationals, are at high risk of arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial,” the foreign ministry said on its website. It added that this risk also applies to people who are in Iran as tourists. The ministry further warned that in case of arrest or detention, “respect for fundamental rights and security are not guaranteed” and the capacity of the French Embassy in Tehran to provide consular protection is limited. The call came a day after Iranian state television aired a video in which two French nationals “confessed” to espionage. French teachers’ union official Cécile Kohler and her husband Jacques Paris were detained in Iran on May 7. They are accused of trying to cause unrest during teachers’ strikes. Tehran informed about their detention on May 11. At the time of their arrest, they were on holiday in Iran and had tourist visas. France condemned their arrest as unjustified and demanded their immediate release. Tehran did not comply with the request and in early July accused it of “undermining the security” of the country. The confession of the French couple was aired on television during a wave of street riots in Iran. They were triggered by the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman after being detained by the morality police. Tehran considers the protests to be the result of a conspiracy hatched abroad. Two other French citizens are currently detained in Iran: Iranian-born researcher Fariba Adelkhah, arrested in June 2019 and later sentenced to five years in prison for undermining national security, and Benjamin Briere, who was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for espionage when he used a drone to photograph the scenery in a natural park near the Turkmen-Iranian border. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs also “strongly advises against” traveling to Iran. Human rights activists say that Tehran is detaining or preventing the departure of more than 20 citizens of Western countries, mostly with dual citizenship, based on baseless accusations. According to them, this is part of Iran’s efforts to force concessions from the West by taking such hostages. However, Iran rejects such accusations.