France submits an application against Iran to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (16 May 2025)

Two French nationals, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been held for three years as state hostages by the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are being held in shameful conditions and have been able to received only four consular visits, under very restrictive conditions.

This situation is unacceptable and, as France has already said several times, contrary to international law. In this context, France has today, Friday 16 May 2025, submitted an application against Iran to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in keeping with the announcement by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on 2 April 2025.

In the application, France denounces Iran’s serious and repeated breaches of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Among other things, the Convention protects France’s right to exercise its consular protection for the benefit of its nationals and their right to benefit from that protection.

Through this application France asks the Court to find that Iran has failed to comply with its obligations under the 1963 Convention. France also asks the Court to order Iran to end immediately its violations of international law and remedy all the consequences.

The institution of these legal proceedings before the International Court of Justice is more broadly consistent with the efforts made by the French State to secure the immediate, unconditional release of our two compatriots. France will continue to use all leverage at its disposal to secure the release of its nationals.