An Iranian court announced on Monday, October 6th, that Lennart Monterlos, a French-German citizen previously arrested for espionage amid the Iran-Israel conflict, has been acquitted.
Monterlos, 19, was arrested on June 16th, in Bandar Abbas while cycling alone across Iran during the third day of the 12-day-war between Iran and Israel. His family insisted he was innocent and the charges were never officially disclosed.
The decision comes as Iran seeks the release of a French couple detained since 2022 in exchange for Iranian woman Mahdieh Esfandiari, arrested in France for allegedly promoting terrorism. The cases are separate and Iran stresses the French couple faces formal charges, while Esfandiari’s detention is considered unlawful by Iranian authorities.
“The Revolutionary Court, taking into account legal principles and doubts about the crime, has issued a verdict of acquittal of the accused, although according to the law, the prosecutor has the right to object to the verdict,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.
