France expresses concern over citizen missing in Iran
A French man has gone missing in Iran since mid-June, France’s minister for citizens abroad said on Monday, raising concerns over Tehran’s history of detaining Western nationals.
A French man has gone missing in Iran since mid-June, France’s minister for citizens abroad said on Monday, raising concerns over Tehran’s history of detaining Western nationals.
“It’s a worrying disappearance, and we are in contact with the family,” Minister Laurent Saint-Martin, who oversees French nationals overseas, told RTL radio.
Saint-Martin stopped short of confirming whether the Iranian authorities were involved in the disappearance, but added: “It is worrying because Iran has a deliberate policy of taking Western hostages.”
The man, who also holds German nationality, has not been identified publicly.
French media reported on Sunday that he was an 18-year-old who had been on a solo cycling trip in the region and went missing a few days after Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian sites in mid-June.
AFP reported that the French man has not contacted his family since June 16, citing a French diplomatic source.“We are in contact with the family about this,” the source was quoted as saying.
The source described the case as “worrying," and advised French nationals against travelling to Iran due to Tehran’s “deliberate policy of taking Westerners hostage.”
The missing person alert was first posted on social media by friends seeking help with locating the tourist.
While French authorities have not named the individual, the French daily Le Figaro identified the missing person as Lennart Monterlos, 18, citing a missing person alert posted on Instagram.
According to Le Figaro, Monterlos describes himself on Instagram as passionate about climbing and cycling. In June 2024, he announced plans for “a one-year cycling trip across Eurasia,” calling it a “dream” he hoped to fulfill before starting university.
His planned route spanned “400 days, 35,000 km,” across “35 countries.”
His last public location update, posted on the travel app Polarsteps, showed him in Shiraz, Iran, on June 3, with a planned stop in Kashan. The account has not been updated since.
Monterlos's disappearance follows recent developments in the case of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens arrested in Iran in 2022, who were recently notified of charges punishable by death—including espionage for Israel— after which they were moved to an undisclosed location.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported a phone call between French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, during which they discussed consular affairs and regional developments.
IRNA’s report did not specify whether the two diplomats discussed the cases of Lennart Monterlos, Cécile Kohler, or Jacques Paris. However, the term "consular affairs" usually refers to the cases of citizens detained in the two countries.
