Iranian 'agitator' detained in France for IRGC ties returns to Iran

Bashir Biazar, a former Iranian official with links to the IRGC Quds Force who was detained in France for acting as "an agent of influence and agitator" returned to Iran where he received a hero's welcome.

A short clip released by Iran's state-run media showed Biazar getting off a plane in Tehran and being greeted by an Iranian official.

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," a French Interior Ministry representative told a hearing in Paris Wednesday.

It is unclear if he has been deported or has willingly returned to Iran on a different arrangement after the end of his "administrative detention."

The decision to release Biazar has sparked criticism from activists who say the French government could have exchanged him with French prisoners held "hostage" in Iran.

Cécile Kohler, Jacques Paris, and Louis Arnaud are among the unknown number of foreign and dual nationals held by Iran, but it is not clear if Biazar's released is linked to any swap deal between Tehran and European countries.

Biazar and his family had lived in France since 2022. Last week, Iran International reported that he had been detained and was about to be deported for his IRGC connections. But Iran's state news agency dismissed such reports, saying Biazar was a "musician."

Iran International has seen official documents from France's Interior Ministry in which Biazar is described as a "former director of Iran's state broadcaster". He is also said to be connected with Unit 840 of the Quds Force, whose mission is to conduct covert operations outside Iran, including the attack and intimidation of dissidents.

Iranian activists in France attempted to keep Biazar in France so that he could be tried for alleged role in broadcasting forced confessions of dissidents on Iran's state TV.