Iran accused a French spy couple for Israel and tried to overthrow the government, diplomatic and family sources announced on Wednesday.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been detained in Iran since May 2022. Their families and French officials declared that the accusations were false and politically motivated.
The couple also faces a serious accusation called “corruption on earth”, which carries the death penalty.
Iranian officials also instructed the couple of “conspiracy to overthrow the regime” and “corruption on earth”, said the sources, adding that the country accused them of “spying” for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
“All we know is that they saw a judge who confirmed the three accusations,” said Kohler’s sister, adding that the two French nationals were still refused access to independent lawyers.
The three accusations bear the death penalty.
“These charges, if confirmed, are completely unfounded,” said the diplomatic source.
Tehran did not confirm the new charges.
The news one day came after a French diplomat was able to visit the two French nationals, whose families had demanded proof that they were alive after the Israeli strikes.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not specify where the visit occurred, in the midst of uncertainty at the place where the couple is located.
The fate of Kohler and Paris was unknown since Israel targeted the prison of Evin de Tehran in an air strike last week, before a ceasefire in the United States between the enemies of the Middle East came into force.
The Iranian judiciary said that the Israeli prison strike killed at least 79 people.
He also said that the Iranian prison authority had transferred prisoners from Evin prison, without specifying their number or identifying them.
Several prisoners were transferred to Qarchak prison for women outside of Tehran, which has a notorious reputation for their conditions.
Kohler, 40, and Paris, his 72 -year -old partner, have been detained in Iran since May 2022 on charges of espionage rejected by their families.
Iran holds around twenty European nationals, many of whom have never been published, in what certain Western governments, including France, describe as a hostage -taking strategy aimed at extracting the West concessions.
Three Europeans, which were not identified, were also arrested following the current conflict, two of which are accused of espionage for Israel, according to the authorities.
