French experts: "The prisoner exchange with Iran has political dimensions that go beyond a mere humanitarian issue."

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea - Follow-ups: French experts specializing in Iranian affairs have said that Tehran's announcement of entering the final stage of prisoner exchange negotiations with France, at this sensitive time, carries political dimensions that go beyond a mere humanitarian issue. These experts believe that Tehran is using the prisoner file as a pressure card in an explosive regional context, which includes the recent war with Israel and the confrontation with the West over the nuclear file. For his part, Thierry Coville, a researcher at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris, said that "the timing of the Iranian announcement is not innocent." He explained that "Iran is trying to exploit regional tension, especially the short war with Israel, to show that it is capable of negotiating at a time when it is facing increasing international isolation." Coville considered that the prisoner file has become part of a broader strategy to ease Western pressure and gain negotiating cards in major files, such as the nuclear program. In turn, Bernard Hourcade, a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research and an expert on Iranian affairs, said that Tehran "uses prisoners as a permanent bargaining chip." Hourcade pointed to an important symbolic dimension in the Iranian announcement, saying: "The announcement at this time, after the fall of the Bayrou government in France and the formation of the Lecornu government, conveys a double message: on the one hand, Iran's readiness to understand with the new French leadership, and on the other hand, confirming that it has real pressure cards on Paris." The Iranian authorities announced, on Thursday evening, that preparations for the exchange of prisoners between France and Iran had entered their final stage. Three French citizens - Jacques Paris, Cécile Kohler, and Lennart Montrellus - are being held in Iranian prisons. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed on Thursday that an agreement to exchange French prisoners held in Iran for an Iranian woman imprisoned in France "is nearing its final stage." "I can say now that we have reached the point where an agreement on the exchange of French prisoners in Iran is nearing its final stage," Araqchi said in a television interview, without revealing further details. The proposed agreement includes Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman arrested in France last February on charges of promoting terrorism through social media networks. Iran has repeatedly demanded her release, considering her arrest "unfair." In May, France filed a lawsuit against Tehran before the International Court of Justice for detaining two of its citizens - Cécile Kohler (40 years old) and Jacques Paris (72 years old) - and Paris described their arrest as "state hostage-taking." Kohler and Paris were arrested on May 7, 2022, and accused of spying for Israel, Iran's staunch regional rival. Their families have described their situation as "desperately deteriorating." It is worth noting that the French detainees are part of about twenty Europeans detained in Iran, including Lennart Montrellus, a 19-year-old French-German young man, who was arrested in June during his bicycle trip from Europe to Asia, during the short war between Iran and Israel.