TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Thursday that a prisoner swap deal involving French nationals held in Iran and Iranian academic Mahdieh Esfandiari, currently detained in France, is nearing its final stages.
Esfandiari, 39, has been imprisoned in France since February 28 after publishing messages condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. Iranian authorities have repeatedly called for her release, describing her detention as unjust and politically motivated. 
She has been held in one of France’s most notorious prisons, Fresnes, located about 470 kilometers from Paris, making it difficult for her family and friends to provide support.
According to Esfandiari’s family and friends, her arrest resembled a kidnapping, with security forces thoroughly searching her home on the day of her detention. 
For two days following her arrest, no information about her whereabouts was disclosed. It was only after persistent inquiries that her family learned she was in police custody. Additionally, French police and judicial authorities denied her family contact for two weeks.
Esfandiari, a linguist with a degree in French from Lumière University in Lyon, where she has lived and worked as a professor, translator, and interpreter for eight years, has become a focal point of tensions between Iran and France. French authorities reportedly withheld detailed information about her detention from the Iranian Foreign Ministry for a month, despite repeated requests.
The Iranian government maintains that Esfandiari’s detention is politically motivated and unjust, calling for her immediate release.
Meanwhile, Iran holds two French citizens, Cecile Kohler, 40, and Jacques Paris, in his 70s, who were arrested on May 7, 2022, and charged with spying for Israel.
In a televised interview, Araghchi said, “We have carried out a great deal of activity, and I can now say that we have reached the point where the exchange of the French prisoners in Iran is now approaching its final stages.”