Iran's Mahdieh Esfandiari, accused of glorifying terrorism, arrives for her trial in court Wednesday, January 14, 2026 in Paris. MICHEL EULER / AP
A French prosecutor Friday, January 16 sought a one-year jail term for an Iranian woman accused of promoting "terrorism" online in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens. Judgment in the case is expected on February 26.
Mahdieh Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian, was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting and inciting "terrorism" on social media. The arrest was over comments she is said to have made including some on Palestinian militant group Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, according to French authorities.
She is accused of having written posts for a channel called "Axis of the Resistance" in 2023 and 2024 on platforms including Telegram, X, Twitch and YouTube.
She was released after some eight months in pre-trial detention in October pending her trial, which started Tuesday. It was scheduled long before the latest protests erupted in Iran. The prosecutor requested a four-year jail term, including three years suspended, for Esfandiari, but said it would not be necessary for her to be re-incarcerated.
