France Expels Iranian Suspected of Having Links to IRGC

France on Wednesday expelled an Iranian suspected of influence peddling on behalf of Tehran and having links to the Revolutionary Guard’s ideological army, his lawyer and Iranian officials said.
Biazar had been held in administrative detention since the beginning of June and was subject to a deportation order from the French interior ministry, said AFP..
His lawyer, Rachid Lemoudaa, said that the expulsion order was based on assumptions and that his client “have never been made aware of any threat whatsoever".
Mohammad Mahdi Rahimi, the head of public relations for the office of the Iranian president, wrote on X that Biazar "has been released and is on his way back to his homeland."
The case has emerged at a time of heightened tensions between Paris and Tehran, with three French citizens, described by France as "state hostages," still imprisoned in Iran.
A fourth French detainee, Louis Arnaud, held in Iran since September 2022, was suddenly released last month.
Activist group Iran Justice and victims of human rights violations filed the torture complaint against Biazar last month in Paris.
A representative of the French interior ministry, speaking at a hearing earlier Wednesday, said Biazar was an "agent of influence, an agitator who promotes the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, more worryingly, harasses opponents of the regime."
The representative accused Biazar of filming journalists from Iranian opposition media in September in front of the Iranian consulate in Paris after an arson attack on the building.
French authorities also accused him of posting messages on social networks in connection with the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in which he denounced "Zionist dogs."
The complaint referred to the regular broadcasts by Iranian state television of statements by, and even interviews with, Iranian or foreign prisoners, which activists regard as forced confessions.
"It is incomprehensible ... that no legal proceedings have been initiated" against Biazar, Chirinne Ardakani, the Paris-based lawyer behind the complaint, told AFP.
She said there were "serious indications" implicating Biazar "in the production, recording and broadcasting of forced confessions obtained clearly under torture."
"Nothing is clear in this case," she added.
The French citizens still held in Iran are Cecile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, detained since May 2022, and another man identified only as Olivier.
Kohler appeared on Iranian television in October 2022 giving comments activists said amounted to a forced confession.
Amnesty International describes Kohler as "arbitrarily detained ... amidst mounting evidence Iran's authorities are holding her hostage to compel specific action[s] by French authorities."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday a US proposal for a nuclear deal was against Tehran's national interests, and that the country would not abandon uranium enrichment.

The issue of uranium enrichment has been a sticking point in negotiations between the US and Iran. Uranium enrichment remained key to Tehran's nuclear program, Khamenei said in a speech.

On Monday, an Iranian diplomat told Reuters Tehran was poised to reject a US proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, dismissing it as a "non-starter" that fails to soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment or to address Tehran's interests.

Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

France Expels Iranian Suspected of Having Links to IRGC