Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed the arrest of a young French man who disappeared whilst cycling through the country, saying he was detained "for committing a violation".

Araghchi told French newspaper Le Monde on July 10 that an official notification about the individual's status had been sent to the French embassy, IRIB reported on July 11.

The missing person has been identified as Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old dual French-German national from Besançon in eastern France, who was cycling through Iran when he vanished on June 16 after leaving the city of Varzaneh towards the desert east of Isfahan.

The French Foreign Ministry said it was in contact with Iranian authorities regarding the status of its citizen, following concerns raised about his disappearance.

Reuters previously reported that a French man had gone missing in Iran since mid-June, with France's minister for citizens abroad expressing worry about what had happened to him.

According to Le Figaro, Monterlos had announced plans in June 2024 for "a one-year cycling trip across Eurasia", describing it as a "dream" he hoped to fulfil before starting university. His planned route spanned "400 days, 35,000km" across "35 countries".

His last public location update, posted on travel app Polarsteps, showed him in Shiraz on June 3, with a planned stop in Kashan. The account has not been updated since.

The teenager's disappearance came shortly after Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian facilities, though no direct connection has been established.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of foreign and dual nationals in recent years, often on espionage-related charges. Rights groups and Western countries accuse Tehran of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips, which Iran denies.

France currently has two other nationals detained in Iran - Jacques Paris and Cecile Kohler - who have been charged with spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence service and held for more than three years.

"An official notification about his status has been sent to the French embassy," Araghchi said.