An Iranian woman wanted by Tehran as part of a prisoner swap with two French citizens has been sentenced to four years in prison by a Paris court for glorifying and inciting terrorism online.
Three years were suspended, meaning Mahdieh Esfandiari, 39, is unlikely to return to prison as she had already served eight months in detention before trial.
She was also ordered to leave France. Her lawyer described the ruling as “severe” and said an appeal would be launched.
Esfandiari was considered a bargaining chip in negotiations with Tehran, with her case linked to the detention of the French pair in Iran.
France has been trying for years to obtain the freedom of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, accused by Tehran of spying and held since May 2022. They were allowed to leave Evin prison in November and move to the French embassy in Tehran but forbidden to leave Iranian territory.
France has described Ms Kohler and Mr Paris as “state hostages” taken by Tehran in a bid to extract concessions. They were convicted of espionage, charges their families have always said were fabricated.
Return deal
Iranian authorities have publicly said they want Esfandiari to return to Iran before the two French citizens can be sent to France. Paris has never confirmed that such a deal was under discussion. Their transfer to the embassy came shortly after Esfandiari's own release from pretrial detention in late October. In Tehran, protesters demanded her release.
In November, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a potential exchange between Tehran and Paris “had been negotiated”.
He added: “An agreement has been reached and indeed we are waiting for the entire legal and judicial procedure to be completed in both countries. Everything is ready. We are waiting for the judicial process to be completed in France.”
Nicolas Salomon, who represents the European Jewish Organisation which initiated the case against Esfandiari, told The National she would not have to serve her remaining prison time and could now leave France.
Esfandiari, who moved to France in 2018 to study translation, was found guilty of “glorifying terrorism, inciting terrorist acts committed through an online communication service, public insults and criminal conspiracy,” the court said in remarks shared with The National.
She stood accused of orchestrating an online hate campaign targeting Iran's adversaries and of being behind a pro-Iranian, pro-Hezbollah and pro-Hamas online group that featured a Telegram account called Axis of Resistance.
“The court noted that the remarks were disseminated online and reached a wide audience, and that technical resources deployed had been used to achieve this,” the court said.
Esfandiari argued in her defence that she no longer administered the account and other social media linked to the same group after the summer of 2023. The accounts all sported an image of the late Iranian Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani as their profile picture.
Esfandiari was arrested in February 2025 after emptying her bank accounts and appearing to be ready to return to Iran.
The Axis of Resistance Telegram account has been under investigation for a year and had close links to far-right, anti-Semitic, French-Swiss public figure Alain Soral, also accused in the case, who lives in Switzerland and did not appear in court.
Soral was found guilty of criminal conspiracy and sentenced to two years in prison with an arrest warrant, a five-year ban on his civil, civic and family rights, and a €15,000 ($17, 700) fine. “The investigation demonstrated … the amplification of the Axis of Resistance thanks to Soral's important audience,” Mr Solomon said.
