France fails to free illegally detained Iranian academic despite pledges
TEHRAN – Iran’s judiciary spokesperson, Asqar Jahangir, says the French government has failed to fulfil its promise to release Iranian academic Mahdieh Esfandiari from prison.
“At a certain point, they said if a proper location is designated, they would free her to be kept in that place. The Iranian Embassy in France did the same, but France refused to keep its promise,” Jahangir explained.
He added the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Judiciary are having good cooperation to secure the freedom of Ms. Mahdieh Esfandiari.
“In our opinion, supporting the Palestinian people and expressing opposition to genocide in Gaza are legitimate moves in line with safeguarding human rights and cannot be considered as an offense,” the spokesperson noted. He added Iran is seriously pursuing the matter through Esfandiari’s lawyer.
“Also, the Human Rights Committee is, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, seeking to secure her unconditional release and we hope the French government will end her illegal detention,” he added.
The arbitrary and illegal detention of Iranian academic Mahdieh Esfandiari in France has revealed new dimensions of “double standards” and “political hypocrisy” in the so-called homeland of human rights and freedom of expression.
This particular case goes beyond an individual matter and has become a global symbol exposing the deceit of Western powers.
While the Iranian national has been in detention for several months in a Paris suburb prison without any legal basis, the Iranian judiciary has announced the acquittal of Lennart Monterlos, a young Franco-German arrested in Iran in June over espionage.
This news emerged as Paris and Tehran engaged in negotiations for the release of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris — also imprisoned in Iran for espionage — in exchange for freeing Mahdieh Esfandiari, the Iranian national falsely accused of “glorifying terrorism.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated in a televised interview recently that an agreement to exchange French prisoners for an Iranian academic was nearing its “final stage.”
The case of Esfandiari highlights France’s blatant violations of women’s rights and the complete absence of freedom of expression, exposing the hollow rhetoric of the Élysée leadership.
Since March 2, Esfandiari has been imprisoned in Fresnes, south of Paris, for social media posts condemning the genocide in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
However, her case is not isolated — it fits into a broader pattern of manipulating “freedom of expression” for political blackmail and hostage-taking.
On March 2, 2025, Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian academic living in Lyon, was arrested by French security agents after a surprise raid on her home. Her family described the incident as a kidnapping or hostage-taking, saying that police arrived unannounced, took her away in a van, and detained her without charge or legal assistance for months.
Her arrest was neither a criminal case nor a civil rights issue. No evidence of wrongdoing has been presented, and the accusations against her — vaguely worded as “glorifying terrorism” — lack any factual or legal basis, making the case highly suspicious.
Her only “crime” was defending the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, who have endured a modern-day holocaust at the hands of the Israeli regime — with France’s support.
Under French law, any detention exceeding 48 hours without a judicial warrant is illegal. Yet Esfandiari has spent 226 days now behind bars under vaguely defined allegations of “endangering national security.”
No concrete evidence has been produced to substantiate these spurious claims. Her detention violates the guarantees enshrined in the French Code of Criminal Procedure and the European Convention on Human Rights.