Benjamin Brière and Bernard Phelan landed at Le Bourget

Finally back in France. Frenchman Benjamin Brière and Franco-Irish Bernard Phelan, who were detained in a prison in Iran, landed on Friday May 12 around 7:30 p.m. at Le Bourget airport, noted the franceinfo journalist present on the spot.

Weakened and sick, the two men found their family at the airport, far from the cameras and without an official ceremony, learned franceinfo.

Four other French still imprisoned in Iran

Benjamin Brière, 37, greatly diminished by a hunger strike, was arrested in May 2020, accused of espionage. Bernard Phelan, 64, tourism consultant, also ill, was arrested on October 3, 2022 for undermining national security. They were released on Friday, to the great relief of France, which reiterated its determination to release “all detained Europeans” in this country, including four French.

The two men, who have always maintained their innocence, have been released “in good faith and in a humanitarian action”according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, referring to “requests from the French party at different levels and after negotiations”.