France expelled on Wednesday Bashir Biazar, an Iranian national suspected of being an "influence agent" for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Bashir Biazar © X
France expelled on Wednesday Bashir Biazar, an Iranian national suspected of being an "influence agent" for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This move is the latest development in the ongoing tensions between Paris and Tehran, which continues to detain three French nationals.
Bashir Biazar, who had been subject to an expulsion order from the French Interior Minister since early June, was held in a detention center in Metz (eastern France) before being flown to Tehran on Wednesday morning.
During an administrative court hearing in Paris on Wednesday, a representative from the Interior Ministry portrayed Biazar as an "influence agent, an agitator promoting the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and, more worryingly, harassing regime opponents."
The representative cited intelligence sources, claiming Biazar had filmed opposition Iranian journalists in September outside the Tehran consulate in Paris after an arson attack, compromising the safety of a relative of one of these journalists in Iran.
The French authorities accused Biazar of operating "in connection" with the Quds Force, a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a link he allegedly kept secret. "When one is a member of the Quds Force, it doesn’t go on one’s business card," quipped the Interior Ministry representative.
Biazar also faced criticism for social media posts about the Gaza conflict, where he reportedly referred to "Zionist dogs" and "child killers."
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Friday they had fired two ballistic missiles at what they described as concentrations of Saudi forces in Al-Tuwal in Jazan province, hours after Saudi civil defence issued an all-clear for the province.
President Donald Trump has told senior advisers in recent days that he may hold off on attacking Iran if the US faces no new provocations from Tehran or the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to three people familiar with the matter.
It is necessary to raise pressure on Yemen's Houthis so that they end their attacks in the region, notably on Saudi Arabia, France's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
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