By Kavita Mistry 
Both Tehran and Paris have the necessary will to resolve the “issue” of prisoners, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday (October 20, 2025), a week after an Iranian court gave heavy prison sentences to two French citizens.
“We are following the issue seriously. We believe both sides have the necessary will to resolve this issue,” Mr. Baghaei said when asked at a weekly press conference about the possibility of a prisoner swap.
Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, are the only two French citizens being held in Iran and have been detained since 2022. Iran has accused France of arbitrarily detaining Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon, who was arrested this year over anti-Israel social media posts.