Iran airs video with 2 French citizens accused of spying

Iran on Thursday published video showing two detained French citizens accused of spying amid ongoing protests roiling the country that Tehran has sought to describe as a foreign plot instead of local anger over the death of a 22-year-old detained by the country’s morality police.
The video released by the state-run IRNA news agency showed two French citizens, Cecile Kohler and Jacque Paris, who are unionists associated with France’s National Federation of Education, Culture and Vocational Training.
Iran, which long has used detained Westerners as bargaining chips in negotiations, previously has offered no public evidence to support the spying accusations.
The clips also resembled other videos of Tehran has forced prisoners to make. In 2020, one report suggested authorities over the last decade had aired at least 355 coerced confessions.