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Iran using war to cover up executions of political dissidents, activist claims
Iranian activist Sheyda Rahbari has highlighted a disturbing increase in the execution of political dissidents by Iran’s Islamic regime. Rahbari describes the regime’s escalating oppression, including open threats of arrest and execution against its citizens. She points to the tragic execution of 18-year-old protestor Amir Hussein Hamedi as a poignant example of the regime’s harshness.
In a significant development, French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris were freed by Iran on Tuesday, marking the end of “three and a half years of detention,” as announced by President Emmanuel Macron.
The couple, apprehended in May 2022 during a visit to Iran, faced accusations from Iranian state media of espionage aimed at inciting unrest, as reported by Reuters. France had consistently described these allegations and their detention as baseless and unjustified.
“Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris are now free and en route to French soil after enduring three and a half years in Iranian detention. This is a great relief to us all, especially their families,” Macron expressed on X.
He further extended his gratitude, saying, “Thank you to the Omani authorities for their mediation efforts, to the State services, and to the citizens who tirelessly mobilized to ensure their return.”
A woman walks past posters of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens held in Iran, during support rallies outside the National Assembly in Paris on May 7, 2025, marking their three-year detention and demanding their release. (Abdul Saboor/Reuters)
The nonprofit United Against Nuclear Iran described Kohler as the head of a federation of teachers unions in France, with Paris being her partner.Â
France’s foreign ministry said last May that Kohler and Paris were being detained as “state hostages by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”Â
French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference on July 10, 2025, in London, England. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
“They are being held in shameful conditions and have been able to receive only four consular visits, under very restrictive conditions,” the ministry said at the time.Â
Iranian authorities freed the pair from prison in November but didn’t let them leave the country, according to The Associated Press.
Noemie Kohler, sister of Cecile Kohler, and Anne-Laure Paris, daughter of Jacques Paris, attend a press conference in Paris, France, on June 27, 2025. Both are relatives of French citizens held in Iran. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
French officials said they were then being kept safe at the French Embassy in Tehran, until their departure from Iran on Tuesday.Â