Convicted in France for “glorifying terrorism”, the Iranian national is being mentioned as part of a potential prisoner-swap scenario with Tehran involving French detainees Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been released from jail but cannot leave Iran.
Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari was sentenced on Thursday by a Paris court to one year in prison and permanently barred from French territory for glorifying terrorism.
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She could become a bargaining chip in possible talks with Tehran and in the event of a prisoner swap involving French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are still waiting to leave Iran after being held there for more than three years.
Iranian authorities have indicated that, once the French legal process is completed, they want their citizen to be exchanged for the two French nationals. Esfandiari's lawyer said she would be filing an appeal.
At a hearing in January, prosecutors sought a four-year prison sentence, including three years suspended, along with a lifetime ban from France.
The prosecutor argued that returning Esfandiari to prison immediately was not necessary, as she had already spent eight months in pre-trial detention.
What did Esfandiari do?
Esfandiari, 39, was born in Iran and has lived in France since 2018. She was tried in Paris on multiple charges, including glorifying terrorism, directly inciting an act of terrorism online, issuing online public insults targeting a person’s origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion, and criminal conspiracy.
In court, the Iranian national, who is ideologically close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and has translated books linked to the Tehran regime, also made remarks that amounted to endorsing the 7 October 2023 attacks carried out by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel.
The verdict was closely watched by relatives of Kohler and Paris, who remain unable to leave Iran.
Arrested in May 2022, the pair were later handed heavy sentences, including on espionage-related charges.
They were released in early November 2025 but were banned from leaving Iranian territory.
The exact terms of any possible exchange remain unclear, especially as regional tensions persist.
The US has bolstered its military presence in the Gulf and repeatedly warned of consequences if diplomacy fails over Iran’s nuclear programme. Talks resumed in Geneva on Thursday.