France – France 24, Feb. 26, 2026
A French court on Thursday 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 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 Cecile 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.”
