Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari has returned to her home country after being detained in France for over a year. Her return appears to be part of a broader exchange of detainees between Iran and France.
Details of Esfandiari’s Detention
Iran’s state television reported on Wednesday that Ms. Esfandiari, described as a “rights activist,” had returned to Iran. She was sentenced to one year in prison for online comments supporting Palestine and the 2023 Hamas operation against Israel, which preceded the conflict in Gaza. A graduate of the University of Lyon, she had resided in France since 2018, working as a translator. She was arrested in February of the previous year on charges of promoting “terrorism” and was later released on bail in October.
“I believe it is clear to everyone that freedom of speech is not truly present, at least not in France where I was. The court’s decision was profoundly unjust,” Esfandiari stated during a broadcast on Iranian state television.
French Nationals Released from Iran
Esfandiari’s return follows by a week the arrival in France of French citizens Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72. They had been held in Iran for more than three years. Kohler and Paris were apprehended by Iranian authorities in May 2022 and were released in November of last year. They faced espionage charges, which their families have consistently denied.
French diplomats facilitated their transfer to France’s mission in Tehran, where they remained under house arrest until their full release on April 7. Their journey to freedom involved being driven from Iran to neighboring Azerbaijan, from where they took a flight to Paris.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office characterized the release of the French citizens as the result of a “long-term effort,” noting that discussions gained momentum recently, partly influenced by regional developments. While France has not explicitly confirmed an exchange, Iran’s state-run IRNA agency previously indicated that Tehran and Paris had reached an agreement for the release of the French citizens in exchange for Ms. Esfandiari.
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