France Protests the Imprisonment of One of Its Citizens in Iran

The spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anne-Claire Legendre, revealed on Wednesday that "Mr. Louis Arnaud, detained in Iran, has been sentenced to five years in prison after a baseless conviction." She affirmed in a statement that "this conviction, which has no supporting evidence, and the lack of access to a lawyer, is unacceptable." His mother, Sylvie, told Reuters that "the justification given for his sentencing was 'propaganda and undermining the security of the Iranian state.'" She added, "This information is completely unfounded and is a replica of what they attribute to other Europeans detained in Iran." Over the past few years, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has detained dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security. Arnaud, who has been detained since September 2022, is one of four French citizens held in Iran. France describes their detention as hostage-taking by a state.