Two French citizens have been handed long prison sentences in Iran after being convicted on spying charges.
The pair were found guilty of espionage on behalf of France, intelligence co-operation with Israel and conspiracy to commit crimes against Iran's national security, a judiciary website reported.
A court in Tehran sentenced each to at least 17 years in jail on the charges of working with Israel, and five to 10 years on the other allegations.
Iranian state media did not identify the pair. A French couple, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been detained since 2022 on spying charges despite France pressuring Iran to release them.
It has yet to be established whether Ms Kohler, 41, and Mr Paris, 72, were the two French citizens concerned. Tehran has previously signalled it could swap the couple for an Iranian woman, Mahdieh Esfandiari, detained in France.
Iran is widely suspected of using US and European citizens as hostages to extract concessions from the West, notably on sanctions and its nuclear activities. Relations are at a low ebb after France, Britain and Germany acted jointly to restore UN nuclear sanctions on Iran.
A teenager with French and German citizenship, Lennart Monterlos, was detained by the regime on spying charges during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, but was released last week after being cleared by an Iranian court. His family had maintained his innocence.
"I have not forgotten Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, whose immediate release we demand," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said as he announced the release of Mr Monterlos on October 8.
Iran has reported scores of arrests of alleged Israeli spies since the air war in June, which ended in a ceasefire after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Iran attacked a Qatari airbase that houses American forces.
Last month, Iran's judiciary said it had executed "one of the most important" Israeli spies, identified as Bahman Choubi Asl. He was alleged to have held 63 face-to-face meetings with Mossad officers during nine trips abroad.
A human rights group said last month that Iran has executed at least 1,000 people so far in 2025, the highest figure in about 20 years.
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
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6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
The biog
Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
