00:00Exploring Iran was a dream of Cécile Collaire's, a French teacher in the Paris region.
00:05So over the Easter break in 2022, she and her partner planned a holiday there.
00:10Jacques Paris, a retired math teacher, had visited the country before.
00:14Collaire's family received photos every day of their travels.
00:18Two French tourists on the trip of a lifetime.
00:21That is until the 7th of May, the day of their flight home.
00:25That's when they went silent.
00:27They'd been arrested.
00:28Pictures of them were broadcast on Iranian state television.
00:32Following their detainment, they were held separately in the high security section 209,
00:37which is reserved for political prisoners in the infamous Evin prison.
00:43It's known for its cruelty, as seen in leaked videos from prior to Collaire and Paris' arrest.
00:49During those three and a half years behind bars, their families in France received little news.
00:58They're sleeping on the floor, in cells with harsh artificial lighting 24 hours a day.
01:04Still not allowed an independent lawyer.
01:06Still have very little contact with their embassy.
01:09And the contact they have with us is very sporadic and heavily supervised.
01:13Then in October last year, they were handed down heavy sentences of 17 and 20 years in prison for, according
01:20to the court, spying for France and Israel.
01:23But a month later, in November 2025, there was a glimmer of hope, one that Emmanuel Macron called a huge
01:29relief.
01:30Both the 41-year-old Collaire and the 72-year-old Paris were moved to the French embassy in Tehran,
01:36with instructions that they were not allowed to leave.
01:39Tehran maintains that their judiciary is independent, and that such detentions are not arbitrary.
01:46Iran, though, has detained dozens of Westerners and dual nationals in recent years, seemingly to use as bargaining chips with
01:53foreign governments.
01:54And in November 2025, the Iranian foreign minister did say that it had agreed to a deal with France,
02:00one where there'd be an exchange of the French couple with an Iranian woman arrested in France,
02:07and that the swap would go ahead once that trial ended.
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