The official Iranian television mentioned on Thursday a video tape showing two French citizens detained on charges of "spying" in Iran in May who apparently confessed to working on behalf of a French security agency, amid weeks of unrest that Tehran linked to foreign opponents.

The French Foreign Ministry categorically denied that the two were members of French intelligence and accused Iran of the practices of "the worst dictatorial regimes" in the confessions tape. The Iranian intelligence ministry said in May it arrested Europeans on charges of provoking "insecurity" in Iran.

France condemned their arrest and demanded the immediate release of Cécile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris. Iranian state media often broadcast alleged confessions by suspects in politically charged cases.

Kohler said, "I am Cécile Kohler, I am an intelligence and operations agent in the DGSE [General Directorate for External Security] ... We were in Iran to pave the way for revolution and overthrow the Islamic regime of Iran."

In the video, she is wearing the hijab. The official television said the French entered Iran "with small sums ... aimed at funding strikes and demonstrations."

Paris said in the video tape, "Our goal in the French security agency is to put pressure on the Iranian government." 'Baseless' said French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre in one of France's toughest statements on Iran in years: "These alleged confessions extracted under coercion have no basis and the reasons given for their arbitrary detention are unfounded."

The International Federation for Human Rights and Justice for Iran, based in London, said in a 2020 report that Iranian state media broadcast more than 355 coerced confessions in the past decade. Iranian officials reject such accusations.

The appearance of the French couple on television coincides with weeks of anti-government protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month.

Four French citizens have been imprisoned in Iran, while France is assessing whether another person has been arrested during the nationwide protests.

Iran said last month that nine Europeans were arrested during the unrest. Western countries, including France, have repeatedly accused Iran's clerical rulers of arbitrarily detaining their citizens. The protests across the country have received broad international support, prompting Tehran to criticize its critics by accusing the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to try to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

Edited by: Yusra Bamtarf