France's Hostage Diplomacy: A Tale of Two Citizens, and One Double Standard
Al-Monitor breathlessly announces the release of French citizens Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris from Iranian detention, where they were held on charges of espionage. This 'humanitarian' achievement, however, follows the quiet release of an Iranian citizen, arrested in France for 'promoting terrorism' online, now safely at the Iranian embassy in Paris. Funny how suddenly Western nations remember
'diplomacy' and 'negotiation' when their own citizens are involved, while concurrently sanctioning others for similar (or lesser) actions. One might wonder if France maintains a sliding scale for what constitutes 'terrorism promotion' or 'espionage,' depending entirely on the nationality of the accused. The US, for instance, jails its own whistleblowers while condemning similar arrests elsewhere.
This isn’t a unique French innovation; it’s standard operating procedure for Western powers who routinely decry 'hostage diplomacy' (when Iran does it) but engage in tit-for-tat exchanges themselves. Hypocrisy, meet international relations.