Brushing aside increasingly urgent official warnings to stay clear of Iran, some European tourists still head to the Islamic Republic, which is accused by Western governments of practicing "hostage diplomacy".

Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German national who disappeared while biking across the country on a tour from Europe to Asia last month, is the latest possible target of unwarranted Iranian arrests.

The French foreign ministry called the case "worrying", and government minister Laurent Saint-Martin, whose portfolio includes French nationals living abroad, said "Iran pursues a deliberate policy of taking Western hostages".

The minister did not say whether Monterlos had indeed been arrested by the Iranian authorities, who are believed currently to hold around 20 European nationals.

The French foreign ministry's list of French or French-Iranian nationals........

© Al Monitor