New French Envoy Demands Release of Citizens in Talks with Iran's President

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a parliament meeting in Tehran, Iran, on January 22, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a parliament meeting in Tehran, Iran, on January 22, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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New French Envoy Demands Release of Citizens in Talks with Iran's President

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a parliament meeting in Tehran, Iran, on January 22, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a parliament meeting in Tehran, Iran, on January 22, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

France's new envoy to Iran told President Ebrahim Raisi that Tehran had to immediately release seven French nationals detained in the country, the foreign ministry said after the envoy handed his credentials to the Iranian leader this week.

Nicolas Roche was pictured this week in a local media meeting Raisi with the state news agency IRNA saying that the Iranian president had criticized France's Islamophobia and that Roche had been mandated to lift misunderstandings in relations.

Ties between France and Iran have deteriorated in recent months with Tehran detaining seven French nationals in what Paris has said are arbitrary arrests that are equivalent to state hostage-taking.

Describing the policy as "reprehensible", Deputy foreign ministry spokesman Francois Delmas said that by continuing to hold its citizens, Iran's relations with France and Europe could only worsen.

He said the new ambassador had made it clear to Raisi that the French citizens should be released immediately and that the conditions they were being held in were unacceptable.

Paris is particularly concerned by the condition of Franco-Irish citizen Bernard Phelan and French citizen Benjamin Briere, who last week began a hunger strike, according to a statement from the family.

Delmas said Paris was holding Tehran responsible for their health and demanded that Phelan be provided urgent medical care, which he was still being denied.

In recent years, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.

groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests. Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.



Israel's Netanyahu Ends Hungary Visit, Heads to US

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks after he took over the certificate of Honorary Citizen of the University (Civis Universitatis Honoris Causa) from Rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service at the university in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks after he took over the certificate of Honorary Citizen of the University (Civis Universitatis Honoris Causa) from Rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service at the university in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
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Israel's Netanyahu Ends Hungary Visit, Heads to US

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks after he took over the certificate of Honorary Citizen of the University (Civis Universitatis Honoris Causa) from Rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service at the university in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks after he took over the certificate of Honorary Citizen of the University (Civis Universitatis Honoris Causa) from Rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service at the university in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Budapest on Sunday to head to the US to talk tariffs and Iran with President Donald Trump after wrapping up a multi-day-visit to Hungary.

Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted his long-standing Israeli ally in Hungary this week, despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

Netanyahu's visit came as Hungary announced its withdrawal from the tribunal.

"I have just concluded a very important visit to Hungary," Netanyahu said in a statement adding that cooperation in the production of munitions among other issues was discussed.

Netanyahu is headed straight to the United States, where he is set to discuss tariffs, Iran and the ICC, among other thorny issues with US President Donald Trump on Monday.

The Israeli leader arrived in the Hungarian capital early on Thursday.

Both Orban and Netanyahu slammed the ICC at a joint press conference, with the Israeli premier expressing hope that Hungary "would not be the last state" to exit the "corrupt organization".

The ICC last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes -- including starvation as a method of warfare -- in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

The war was sparked by the Palestinian group's attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

Orban defended the government's decision not to execute the ICC warrant against Netanyahu in his weekly radio interview, saying that it is "not customary to arrest guests" in Hungary and there was no will to do so since Israel is regarded as a "friend".

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized the decision, calling it a "bad day" for international criminal law.

But Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he didn't think his country or any other European state would have arrested the Israeli leader. The visit to Hungary marked Netanyahu's first trip to Europe since 2023.

During his four-day visit, Netanyahu met Jewish community leaders, visited a Holocaust memorial on the bank of the Danube river and was awarded an honorary degree from a university.

Hungarian police said Saturday it had detained two Frenchmen on suspicion of hooliganism and vandalism after they allegedly tore down and damaged Israeli flags at the Szechenyi chain bridge.

Netanyahu and Orban also had a call with Trump about Hungary's decision to exit the ICC.

Israel had attempted to duck the US tariffs imposed on nearly every country by moving preemptively Tuesday -- a day before Trump's big global tariff announcement -- to drop all remaining duties on the one percent of American goods still affected by them.

But Trump moved ahead with the tariffs, saying the United States had a significant trade deficit with its ally and top beneficiary of military aid.