While the international community, including the Trump administration, has rightly concentrated on Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and its destabilizing role in regional conflicts like Yemen, Tehran’s exploitation of Western citizens as hostages has received comparatively less attention.
Hostage-taking by Iran is hardly a recent phenomenon.
It began as early as November 1979 — when American diplomats were captured by the Islamic Republic — and has remained a key element of the regime’s statecraft ever since.
Abductions, which are overseen by the highest authorities, have proven lucrative for Tehran with hostages from the United States and Europe used to secure political and financial concessions.
Unfortunately, many European governments have given in to Iran’s demands, either directly or indirectly, encouraging further hostage-taking and emboldening Tehran in its other nefarious activities, including terror plots on European soil.
Among the European nations faced with this troubling reality, France stands out.
The French government frequently finds itself negotiating with Tehran over the release of its nationals on trumped up charges.
However, these negotiations generally follow a disturbing pattern: the release of hostages is accompanied by attacks bearing Tehran’s fingerprints on the Iranian resistance movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and its President-elect, Maryam Rajavi, both of whom are based in France.
Such was the case with the recent release of Olivier Grondeau, a French national detained in Iran since October 2022.
On Thursday, March 20, 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Grondeau’s release, marking a welcome development — even if the joy was tempered by the fact that two other French hostages remain imprisoned in Iran.
Behind the scenes, however, a more insidious plot was underway.
Just days earlier, on March 18, Le Canard Enchaîné, a French satirical weekly, published an article clearly intended to discredit and demonize the NCRI and Maryam Rajavi.
The article echoed false claims against the resistance movement, including unsubstantiated allegations of financial misconduct.
The accusations, long peddled by the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and its mouthpieces, were thoroughly investigated in France a decade earlier, with millions of euros in taxpayer money spent, only for a French judge to dismiss the case as baseless.
The timing of the hit-piece was far from coincidental.
Nine months earlier, on June 19, 2024, on the eve of another French hostage release, French authorities carried out a police raid on an NCRI facility north of Paris, an operation seemingly aligned with Tehran’s interests that again turned out to be much ado about nothing.
Iranian officials even implied that they were monitoring the operation in real-time.
While the pattern reveals Tehran’s deep fear of its most organized opposition, it also suggests that smear campaigns and persecution targeting the Iranian resistance are directly or indirectly linked to Tehran.
Even more concerning is the apparent exploitation of France’s press and judicial systems to appease the Iranian regime.
This tactic not only undermines journalistic integrity and judicial independence but also strengthens the very regime that holds European nationals hostage.
By vilifying the NCRI and its leader, these otherwise credible venues bolster Tehran’s narrative that its opposition lacks legitimacy, enabling further isolation and suppression of dissidents.
History demonstrates that appeasement of tyrannical regimes is a dangerous and misguided game. It never leads to lasting peace or stability; rather, it emboldens oppression and human rights abuses.
With regard to Iran, capitulation has perpetuated a cycle of hostage-taking and jeopardizing the safety of European citizens while harming both the Iranian people and European security.
Knowing that European governments are desperate to secure their citizens’ release, the Iranian regime exploits these situations to further its own interests, often at the expense of dissidents who challenge its authoritarian rule.
The tragic irony is that while the Iranian regime has been weakened by internal unrest, economic struggles, and regional setbacks occurring over the past two years and is in no position to impose its will on European governments, it continues to manipulate European politics by employing belligerent tactics.
As the West grapples with how best to deal with Tehran’s tyranny, demonizing the Iranian resistance for short-term gains is a losing strategy.
Western powers must rethink their approach to Iran.
What is needed is a resolute stance against Iran’s brutal regime — one that prioritizes the safety and dignity of both hostages and dissidents.
Officials in the United States and Europe must refuse to sacrifice democratic values and human rights in the face of tyranny.
Beyond being the morally right course of action, taking a firm stand against Tehran’s hostile conduct is the only effective strategy to counter the ayatollah’s hostage diplomacy.
Ivan Sascha Sheehan is a professor of Public and International affairs and the associate dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore. Opinions expressed are his own. Follow him on X @ProfSheehan
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