Iran frees French citizen Olivier Grondeau after nearly 900-day prison ordeal
Olivier Grondeau was arrested in 2022 and sentenced to five years in prison on espionage charges, which his family denies
Iranian authorities have released French citizen Olivier Grondeau, detained since October 2022 on security charges, and he has returned to France, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday.
Grondeau, 34, “is free and with his loved ones”, Macron posted on X.
He added that “our mobilisation will not weaken” to ensure the release of two other French citizens still detained by Iran in what Paris views as state hostage-taking.
Grondeau arrived in France on Monday evening after an almost 900-day ordeal, the Elysee Palace and a diplomatic source said.
No further details on the circumstances of Grondeau’s release were made available.
Grondeau, who is from Montpellier in the south of France, remains in hospital undergoing a battery of tests, having been severely weakened in recent months, particularly psychologically, a government source said, asking not to be named.