The French Foreign Ministry has warned French and dual citizens against traveling to Iran due to the risk of arbitrary detention and unfair trial. The ministry said “the ability of the French embassy in Tehran to provide consular protection to civilians detained or detained in Iran is very limited, and in the case of French-Iranian citizens, consular visits are not allowed as Iran does not recognize dual citizenship.”
The French Foreign Ministry advises the French not to fly to Iran, and has classified Iranian territory as “red” in its travel advice map for civilians. This means that the ministry has officially advised French people and citizens with dual citizenship not to travel to Iran regardless of the reason. The ministry also called on French citizens visiting the country now to be vigilant and take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety. “It is strongly recommended to restrict their movements within the country, to necessarily avoid any kind of gathering and to report themselves to the French Embassy in Tehran,” the statement said.
The ministry said the French, including people who are there on a tourist visit, are at high risk for arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial. He added that “in case of arrest, respect for basic rights and personal security are not guaranteed.” The ministry said “the ability of the French embassy in Tehran to provide consular protection to civilians arrested or detained in Iran is very limited, and in the case of French-Iranian citizens, consular visits are not allowed as Iran does not recognize dual citizenship.”
Last June a number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Britain and Sweden, advised their citizens against any travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran, due to “security risks to foreigners” as well as the volatile security situation and regional threat of terrorism. In the past decade, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of civilians and foreigners with dual citizenship, mostly over unproven accusations of espionage in what human rights organizations said was actually taking hostages to replace them with Iranians detained in Europe.
European sources told Iran International television that Iranian security forces appear to be seeking to take hostages with dual citizenship to exchange them for huge sums of money or with people imprisoned in European and North American countries arrested for terrorist crimes or violations of sanctions. It was further reported that a group of dual citizens who had recently traveled to Iran had to fill out many questionnaires and provide their personal information to the intelligence officers upon their arrival.
Physical examinations, use of rude and insulting words, false accusations, interrogation in a strict security environment, threats to harm family members in Iran are some of the additional cases in which these dual citizens faced their entry into or during their stay in Iran.