The 1,460-day ordeal of teachers Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris ended early on Wednesday as the French couple landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on a commercial flight from Azerbaijan, four years and a day after their arrest in Tehran.

Axar.az informs that Kohler, 41, and Paris, 72, were the last of what France refers to as “state hostages” held by Iran – first as detainees in Tehran’s most infamous prison, then holed up in French diplomatic premises.

Iran media reports that the couple was released in France in response to the release of Iranian prisoner Mehdi Esfandyari.

It was also noted that this move is linked to an agreement that led France to withdraw its complaint against Iran at the International Court of Justice.

The French couple was arrested in Tehran on May 7, 2022, the last day of a trip to Iran that their families say was for tourism. France denounced their detention as “unjustified and unfounded”.

They were released from prison last November and transferred to the French embassy in Tehran, but were not allowed to leave the country until now.