Overview
- The four-day hearing began Tuesday at the Paris correctional court, where Esfandiari faces charges of online glorification and incitement to terrorism, hate insults, and criminal conspiracy.
- Judicial records say she held a central role in the ‘Axe de la Résistance’ network and she is tried alongside four others, including far-right figure Alain Soral, who is subject to a bring-in warrant after failing to appear.
- Iran has proposed swapping Esfandiari for Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, while French diplomats decline comment and the defense argues it is premature to discuss any exchange.
- Kohler and Paris remain confined to the French embassy in Tehran after their conditional release in November 2025, with relatives reporting they are safe but impatient to return.
- Large protests and a harsh security response in Iran complicate any potential deal, and the court could issue a decision at the close of the trial or delay it for deliberations.