A FRENCH citizen imprisoned in Iran for more than 880 days has been freed, French officials said today.

The release of Olivier Grondeau comes as France and the rest of Europe try to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear programme.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote online that Mr Grondeau had been freed. 

He offered no immediate details of what led to Mr Grondeau’s release, though it came on Nowruz, the Persian New Year, when Iran has released prisoners in the past.

France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Noel Barrot posted a picture online of a smiling Mr Grondeau, aboard what appeared to be a private jet.

“We will tirelessly continue our efforts to ensure that all our compatriots still held hostage, including Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, are in turn released,” Mr Barrot wrote.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the release.

The exact details of Mr Grondeau’s detention in October 2022 in the city of Shiraz remain unclear. But it took place in the aftermath of the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being detained over not wearing Iran's mandatory hijab.

 United Nations investigators later said Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to her death, which sparked months of protests and a bloody security force crackdown in the country.