Iran and France on Monday signalled that negotiations were making progress regarding the release of two French citizens held in Iran in exchange for an Iranian national detained in France.

Iran has been holding Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, since 2022. An 18-year-old French-German cyclist, Lennart Monterlos, is also being held in Iran after his arrest in June.

France has repeatedly accused Iran of holding Kohler and Paris arbitrarily, keeping them in conditions akin to torture in Tehran’s Evin prison and not allowing proper consular protection. The Islamic Republic denies the accusations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested in mid-September that the French nationals could be exchanged for Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of

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