On Thursday, a French court issued a one-year prison sentence against Iranian Mehdieh Esfandiari, permanently banning her from entering French territory. This ruling came after she was convicted of promoting “terrorism” online through posts on social media, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
The court ruled to imprison Esfandiari, a student residing in Lyon, for a period of four years, with three years suspended, and issued an order for her to leave France. Her lawyer described the ruling as “harsh” and announced his intention to appeal it.
Esfandiari was arrested last year due to social media posts that praised Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023. This case comes at a very sensitive time, as Paris strives to recover French citizens detained in Iran.
The accused faced several charges, including glorifying a terrorist act, direct incitement via the Internet to commit a terrorist act, and incitement to public hatred based on origin, race, nationality, or religion, in addition to belonging to a criminal gang.
In a session held on January 16, the Public Prosecution in Paris demanded that she be imprisoned for four years, with three years suspended, and that she be permanently banned from entering France. The prosecution believed that there was no need to return her to prison after spending eight months in pretrial detention.
During the trial, “Esfandiari” – who arrived in France in 2018 and worked in translating books issued by a publishing house linked to the Iranian authorities – admitted that she had the idea of establishing the “Axis of Resistance” network, but she denied authoring the publications that are the subject of the accusation. It also considered that the October 7 attack was a “logical response” and not a terrorist act, which the prosecution considered further evidence of adopting rhetoric that glorifies violence.
The issue gained a diplomatic dimension with the name “Esfandiari” being raised in the context of a possible prisoner exchange between Paris and Tehran, as the Iranian authorities expressed their desire to exchange her for the Frenchmen “Cécile Couler” and “Jacques Paris.”
“Kohler” and “Paris” were arrested in Iran in May 2022, and last October they were sentenced to 20 and 17 years in prison on charges of spying for Israel. Lawyer Nabil Boudi, Esfandiari’s defense agent, said that any development in the potential exchange file “will depend entirely on the upcoming judicial decision.”
Despite their release in early November 2025, “Coller” (41 years old) and “Paris” (72 years old) are still under house arrest at the French embassy in Tehran, with a travel ban preventing them from leaving Iranian territory. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had previously announced to France 24 that negotiations on the exchange had been completed and were awaiting the completion of legal procedures in the two countries.
