Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old Franco-German dual national who was cycling from Europe to Japan, has been detained in Iran, Tehran authorities confirmed on Thursday.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that the young man had been “detained for committing an offence,” without disclosing further details.
He added that the country’s French embassy had been officially notified of the detention of the French citizen, who is from the eastern French city of Besançon.
Pressed on the issue, the French Foreign Ministry stated that it was in contact with Iranian authorities regarding its citizen’s condition, as well as with his family.
Since 16 June, the young man’s family and friends have been without updates from him, after the 18-year-old set off from the town of Varzaneh in central Iran to travel to the desert located east of Isfahan.
Until then, Monterlos had been documenting his trip on social media, sharing his last Instagram post on 15 June.
“Day 152 of the France-Japan cycling adventure. Today, I’m in Iran and I’m leaving comfort for a crazy adventure in the desert and the heat to discover the sand dunes near Varzaneh,” he told his followers.
In May, Monterlos declared that he planned to cross Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, telling his followers, “At 18 years old, I am going to cross the world’s most dangerous countries (…) am I brave or oblivious?”
France urges citizens to respect travel advisory
Responding to news of Monterlos’ detention, French Prime Minister François Bayrou urged countries “not to persecute innocent people who are sometimes unaware of the risks they face”, in an interview with French broadcaster LCI on Thursday evening.
Despite this, Bayrou urged young travellers to respect travel instructions, which he said the young cyclist had “made a mockery of”.
In a now-deleted social media video, while praising Iran’s beauty and local hospitality, Monterlos took a jibe at Western media for supposedly fear-mongering about the dangers of travelling to Iran.
The French prime minister added that French authorities would refrain from further commenting on the case, in a bid not to “jeopardise the outcome of the situation”.
Two other French nationals, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, were charged with “spying for Israel” in early July, after having been detained by Iran for more than three years. French diplomatic sources responded by branding the charges as “totally unfounded”.
Human rights groups accuse Tehran of carrying out a policy of hostage diplomacy, using Europeans and dual nationals as “bargaining chips” to facilitate its negotiations with the West.
According to estimates from NGO Hostage Aid Worldwide, around 15 Europeans and dual nationals from Sweden, France, Switzerland, Cyprus, Germany and the UK are imprisoned in Iran.
