Macron Threatens Retaliation if Iran Upholds Spy Charges Against French Couple

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Updated Jul 4, 2025, 06:02 AM

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Thursday that Paris will adopt unspecified retaliatory measures if Tehran does not withdraw new espionage charges against two French citizens held in Iran. Speaking in southern France, Macron branded the allegations a “provocation” and an “unacceptable choice of aggression,” adding that “the response will not wait.”

Iran’s judiciary this week formally indicted Cécile Kohler, 40, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72, on accusations of spying for Israel’s Mossad, conspiring to overthrow the Islamic Republic and “corruption on earth.” Each charge is punishable by death. The couple, both teachers and union activists, were arrested in May 2022 during what relatives say was a tourist trip and have since been transferred between several prisons.

Macron said he intends to raise the case directly with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot separately reminded Tehran that France could seek renewed international sanctions under the U.N. Security Council’s “snapback” provision tied to the 2015 nuclear accord if the dispute is not resolved.

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