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France Slams Iran after Alleged Spying Confession Aired

A general view shows the Eiffel Tower and the financial and business district in La Defense, west of Paris, France November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A general view shows the Eiffel Tower and the financial and business district in La Defense, west of Paris, France November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
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France Slams Iran after Alleged Spying Confession Aired

A general view shows the Eiffel Tower and the financial and business district in La Defense, west of Paris, France November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A general view shows the Eiffel Tower and the financial and business district in La Defense, west of Paris, France November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

France lashed out at Iran for "dictatorial practices" and taking two of its citizens hostage after a video aired on Thursday in which they appeared to confess to spying.

Iran's intelligence ministry said in May it had arrested two Europeans for allegedly fomenting "insecurity" in Iran. France has condemned their arrest and demanded the immediate release of Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris.

Iran’s state media often air purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases.

"I am Cecile Kohler, I am an intelligence and operations agent at the DGSE (Directorate General for External Security) ... We were in Iran to prepare the ground for the revolution and the overthrow of the regime of Islamic Iran," Kohler said in the video, while wearing a headscarf, referring to the French external intelligence service.

The video sparked outrage in Paris with Foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre saying for the first time that the two citizens, along with two others also being held in Iran, were "state hostages".

"The staging of their alleged confessions is outrageous, appalling, unacceptable and contrary to international law. This masquerade reveals the contempt for human dignity that characterizes the Iranian authorities," Legendre said.

"These alleged confessions extracted under duress have no basis, nor did the reasons given for their arbitrary arrest. State TV said the French couple had entered Iran with "chunks of money ... which was meant to fund strikes and demonstrations."

"Our goal at the French security service is to pressure the government of Iran," said Jacques Paris in the video.

The French couple's appearance on TV coincides with weeks of anti-government protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month. It also comes a day after a debate in the French senate in which all political parties condemned Iran's crackdown and backed the government to toughen its stance on Tehran.

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World

French Police Suspect Train Derailment Was Sabotage

SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
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French Police Suspect Train Derailment Was Sabotage

SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)

Investigators suspect that a train derailment in northwest France which injured 44, one gravely, was the result of sabotage, a police source told AFP on Saturday.

A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry as a result, the source said.

Carrying 186 passengers, the train was running between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen when it derailed around 7:45 pm (1745 GMT) Friday.

Authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles drafted in.

Rouen prosecutor Sebastien Gallois said 44 people were injured including an 18-year-old woman evacuated "in a critical condition", while tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative.

SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail network, told AFP that traffic on the line has been suspended and power to the tracks cut to allow emergency services to operate.

World

Police: Explosions, Fire at Bulgarian Munitions Site

Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
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Police: Explosions, Fire at Bulgarian Munitions Site

Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS

An explosion and fires have hit an ammunition storage site in central Bulgaria, police said Saturday, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country.

The latest incident happened late Friday at the warehouse operated by Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine, near the central village of Gorni Varpishta.

No casualties were reported, and the extent of damage was not immediately clear.

"At present there is no danger to the population," local police said in a statement, adding that employees had been evacuated and the area cordoned off.

The nearest village is more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the site, AFP reported.

The incident came about a month after a fire at an ammunition depot at another nearby EMCO plant in Bulgaria, a NATO member and supporter of Ukraine.

EMCO ruled out human error in that case, and prosecutors are investigating.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian defense executive Emilian Gebrev, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2015 together with his son and another company executive.

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals over the poisoning.

Separately, six Russians have also been charged with terrorism over four explosions at arms facilities in the country between 2011 and 2020.

Prosecutors said the four blasts were remotely triggered and suspected the incidents were linked to efforts to disrupt arms supplies to Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria has supported Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

There have been a string of incidents at defense companies in European countries that support Ukraine in recent weeks.

Firebombs were thrown near defense company offices in the German city of Munich earlier this month and an ammunition factory near Rome operated by arms maker KNDS was hit by a blast in August.

No injuries were reported in either case.

World

US Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike that Killed 3 Troops

Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
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US Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike that Killed 3 Troops

Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)

Before Iran carried out its attack that killed three US troops in July, Tehran acquired high-resolution satellite images of the base in Jordan from Chinese entities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing US officials familiar with details of the incident.

It is the clearest evidence so far that Chinese support for Iran during the war has had lethal consequences for US forces, according to the officials, who say the US has connected the imagery to the attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in northeastern Jordan.

The officials did not identify the Chinese entities that supplied the imagery and stopped short of accusing the Chinese government of directly assisting the attack.

Last July, Iranian ballistic missiles struck a housing area where US troops were sleeping, killing three soldiers and wounding four others. The attack was one of three missile strikes against the base within 24 hours and marked the first US deaths since an April ceasefire.

US officials also told the Journal that Iran targeted manned and unmanned aircraft stationed at the base.

Senior US officials raised the satellite imagery linked to the July 17 attack directly with Chinese counterparts, according to the Journal, but Beijing rejected the allegations and demanded evidence.

Chinese officials have repeatedly dismissed Washington's concerns and refused to acknowledge that Chinese companies were engaged in such activity, the report said.

The findings could add friction to US-China relations ahead of a planned Sept. 24 summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to the Journal report, Iranian access to high-resolution imagery was particularly significant because US strikes earlier in the war had damaged Iranian radar, satellites and other surveillance equipment, limiting Tehran’s ability to monitor US military positions.

Caption: Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)