Iran sentences 2 French citizens to combined 63 years

Dubai: An Iranian court sentenced two French citizens to a combined 63 years in prison on espionage and national security charges, the country’s judiciary said Tuesday, likely further straining relations between Tehran and Paris.

The semiofficial Fars news agency named the pair as Cecile Kohler and Chuck Paris. The two have been held since 2022 on charges France has denounced as “unjustified and unfounded.”

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency also reported Tuesday’s sentencing

but without sharing the names of the two French nationals.