March 20, 2025, marks Nowruz, the Iranian New Year celebration. While many Iranians around the world celebrated this tradition, the country’s main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK/PMOI), found itself at the center of yet another disinformation campaign. This time, the smear campaign—engineered in Tehran—coincided with the release of a French hostage, raising serious concerns about the Iranian regime’s continued use of hostage diplomacy to silence its critics.
Iran’s Hostage-Taking Strategy
European nations are well aware of Iran’s history of hostage diplomacy. Belgium, for instance, was coerced into releasing an Iranian diplomat-terrorist involved in a 2018 foiled bomb attack against the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Paris. As confirmed by the Antwerp court’s final verdict, the main target of that attack was Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s president-elect.
On March 20, 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Olivier Grondeau, a French national detained in Iran since October 2022, had been released and reunited with his loved ones. Grondeau had been sentenced to five years in prison on espionage charges—a conviction deemed arbitrary by French authorities, who condemned Iran’s use of state hostage diplomacy. However, the specifics of Grondeau’s release and what was offered to Iran in return for releasing the hostage were not disclosed, leaving open the question: Were Iranian dissidents in Europe once again used as bargaining chips in backdoor negotiations?
NCRI’s Statement on Iran’s Hostage Diplomacy
Afchine Alavi, NCRI’s spokesman in Paris, issued a statement denouncing a growing smear campaign against Maryam Rajavi. On his X account, Alavi wrote: “I welcome the release of Olivier Grondeau, who had been held in Iran since October 2022. However, the way in which this release was obtained encourages the Iranian regime to intensify its hostage-taking tactics. Since 1986, the Iranian Resistance has been systematically targeted to appease the mullahs and facilitate hostage exchanges. Two days before the announcement of this release, I pointed out that the ongoing disinformation campaigns against the Iranian Resistance aimed at specific political objectives, reflecting the eagerness of their sponsors to discredit the opposition.” He further added: “I bitterly note that this prediction has proven to be accurate. Yielding to the demands of Tehran’s fascist mullahs by attacking, defaming, and demonizing the People’s Mojahedin Organization and Maryam Rajavi in the French media constitutes the price paid for the release of a state hostage held by these criminals.”
In a statement, the spokesperson for the MEK, on Wednesday, March 19, said: On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Canard Enchaîné, a French weekly, published a hit piece with false allegations aiming to discredit the main Iranian democratic opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its President-elect Maryam Rajavi. The press also reported that reports have been submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office alleging possible financial misconduct. An unsubstantiated allegation that originally was made twenty years ago and, after twelve years of investigation and spending millions of French taxpayers’ money, the judge dismissed the case by issuing a non-lieu. The whole case was built on regime’s false allegation and was part of concession to the regime.
A Longstanding Demonization Campaign Against NCRI
The timing of Grondeau’s release, coinciding with such a large-scale smear campaign against Maryam Rajavi in French media, raises serious suspicions. The Iranian regime’s state-run media fully embraced the attacks against Rajavi, making it clear that these developments were not coincidental but rather part of a broader negotiation strategy.
This is not the first time the Iranian Resistance has been used as a bargaining chip. In 2003, Maryam Rajavi was arrested and threatened with deportation to Iran as part of a similar deal. In June 2023, the NCRI’s annual Rally in Paris was abruptly banned following a 90-minute phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and then-Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, following the release of several European hostages, including two French.
The statement by the MEK’s spokesperson reminds the most recent deal behind the scenes for releasing two other French hostages, last June, again bargaining on the Iranian dissidents. The statement quotes the Weekly Canard Enchaîné as saying: “Nine months ago, on June 19, 2024, Canard Enchaîné published an article titled “Mujahedin in the Balance?” regarding “the sudden release of a French hostage in Iran on June 13.” It mentioned that “the day before, the Cima Association, which produces their videos, in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, was subjected to a joint raid by police, firefighters, and Urssaf inspectors (…) This raid was reported by LCI that same day at 5:43 p.m., information immediately picked up by the Iranian website Tasnim, affiliated with the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards (…) On the very morning of the hostage’s return, the deputy head of Iran’s judicial system praised the ‘French police attack on the main headquarters of the terrorist group,’ specifying: ‘Iran was able to follow this operation live.’ Was he plugged into the French cops’ body cameras?”
The Dangers of a Weak Diplomatic Approach
Iran’s hostage diplomacy will never grant it legitimacy on the international stage. However, the European Union’s weak and naïve approach to this phenomenon is even more dangerous. By caving to Tehran’s demands and using the Iranian democratic opposition as a bargaining chip, European leaders embolden the mullahs to escalate their repressive tactics.
The primary threat to the Iranian regime is not external military pressure but the growing influence of the Iranian Resistance, particularly the NCRI. By allowing Tehran to dictate its terms through hostage-taking and smear campaigns, Western nations not only betray Iranian dissidents but also open the door to further acts of terrorism on European soil—just as seen in 2018.
If European leaders truly wish to put an end to Iran’s hostage diplomacy, they must align their policies with the Iranian democratic opposition and support its vision for a free and secular Iran. Only through firm and principled diplomacy can the cycle of appeasement and coercion be broken.
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