Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari has returned to Iran after being held in France for more than a year, in what appears to be part of a detainee swap between the two countries, state television reported on Wednesday.
Described by Iranian media as a “rights activist,” Esfandiari was sentenced to one year in prison over online comments supportive of Palestine and the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that prompted the genocidal war on Gaza. The University of Lyon graduate, who had lived in France since 2018 and worked as a translator, was arrested in February last year on charges of promoting “terrorism” and was released on bail in October.
“I think it’s clear for everyone that there is no freedom of speech, at least not in France where I was. The court’s ruling was very unjust,” Esfandiari told state television.
Her return comes a week after two French citizens, Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, arrived in France after being held in Iran for more than three years. Kohler and Paris were detained by Iranian authorities in May 2022 and were freed in November last year following espionage charges their families deny. They were taken to France’s mission in Tehran, remained under house arrest until their full release on April 7, and were then driven to neighbouring Azerbaijan before flying to Paris.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office said their release was the result of a “long-term effort,” and that talks had accelerated in recent weeks amid pressure from the US-Israel war on Iran, adding urgency to the situation. While France did not explicitly acknowledge an exchange, Iran’s state-run IRNA agency had earlier reported that Tehran reached an agreement with Paris to free the French citizens in exchange for Esfandiari.