Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari arrives for her trial on charges of promoting terrorism on social media at a Paris courthouse on January 13, 2026. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
A French court on Thursday, February 26, sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to one year in prison for justifying terrorism in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held in Iran. Esfandiari, 39, was also handed a permanent ban from French territory, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist present at the court. Esfandiari's lawyer said she would be filing an appeal.
Observers see her as a potential bargaining chip in negotiations with Tehran for the release of French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are still waiting to leave Iran. She was arrested in France last year over comments she is accused of having made on social media, including on Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023."
From November 2025
Subscribers only
