The judicial spokesperson announced on Tuesday that additional arrests had been made by Iranian authorities in “the case of French spies,” adding that those detained had been charged with “conspiracy and collusion” with the intention of jeopardizing national security.
Following the release of a video in which they appeared to admit to spying, France retaliated against Iran for its “dictatorial practices” and the kidnapping of two of its people earlier this month. The two have been immediately released, and France has denounced their arrest.
During a weekly news conference, Masoud Setayeshi, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, omitted any information regarding the nationalities of the suspects or the number of additional arrests in the case he referred to as “the case of the French spies.”
“In this case, other arrests have been made and the chain of information is about to be completed and will be announced as soon as it is finalized,” he said, adding that the investigation was moving swiftly.
In May, Iran’s intelligence ministry announced that it had detained two Europeans for allegedly inciting “insecurity” in Iran, where protests have been ongoing since Mahsa Amini passed away last month while being held by the morality police.
In politically heated situations, suspects’ alleged confessions are frequently broadcast by Iran’s state media.
One of the two, Cecile Kohler, stated in the video that they were in Iran to “lay the foundation for the revolution and the overthrow of the Islamic Iran regime.”
The Foreign Ministry first acknowledged that the two nationals, along with the other two who are being held in Iran, were “state hostages” after the video aroused indignation in Paris. It claimed that neither the justifications presented for their arbitrary arrest nor the allegedly coerced confessions had any merit.
The turmoil that was started by the death of 22-year-old Amini, who passed away in morality police custody after being arrested for “inappropriate attire,” has been frequently attributed to foreign enemies such as the United States and Israel.
Many Western nations have denounced Tehran and imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian officials in response to Amini’s death and a deadly crackdown on the protesters, significantly deteriorating already strained diplomatic relations.
