Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Le Monde that Franco-German cyclist Lennart Monterlos, 18, who had been missing since 16 June, is in Iranian custody “for committing a crime.” Araghchi said Tehran has formally notified the French embassy but did not specify the alleged offence or the location of detention. Monterlos, a recent high-school graduate from Besançon, entered Iran as part of a 35,000-kilometre cycling tour intended to span 35 countries. His family lost contact on 16 June while he was crossing the Varzaneh desert, prompting France’s foreign ministry to label the case “worrying” and call on French citizens to avoid travel to Iran. After the arrest was confirmed on 10 July, France’s minister for citizens abroad, Laurent Saint-Martin, said the case underscores a “deliberate policy of taking Western hostages.” Prime Minister François Bayrou urged Tehran “not to persecute innocent people,” while consular officials sought access to the detainee and maintained contact with his relatives. The episode deepens tensions between Paris and Tehran, already strained by the continued imprisonment of French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris since 2022. France has filed a case at the International Court of Justice over their detention and reiterated that foreign travellers risk arbitrary arrest in Iran.