France, April 7 -- "Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on their way to France, after three and a half years in detention in Iran," the French president posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

A source at the French foreign ministry said the couple left Iran on Tuesday at dawn in a diplomatic convoy with the French ambassador and "are currently in Azerbaijan".

"We are waiting for their return to France so we can give them a big hug," Anne-Laure Paris, Jacques Paris's daughter, told French news agency AFP.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot ⁠said he had spoken to the couple.

"They shared with me their emotion ​and their joy to return soon to their country and their loved ones," ​he po...