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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
World
RFI

Fate of French prisoners in Iran unclear after French court convicts Iranian woman

Iran Mahdieh Esfandiari Prison Jacques Paris Cécile Kohler Tehran Terrorism
Mahdieh Esfandiari, flanked by her lawyers, speaks to the press before her trial at a Paris courthouse, 13 January 2026. © Stephane de Sakutin/AFP

A French court has sentenced an Iranian woman, Mahdieh Esfandiari, to one year in prison on charges of promoting terrorism. The case is being linked to possible negotiations with Iran over the release of two French citizens detained in Tehran.

The Paris criminal court on Thursday sentenced Esfandiari over anti-Israel posts on social media, including condoning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

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