The proposed swap involves Mahdieh Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian woman who has been held in a detention facility in the suburbs of Paris since February 28 after publishing messages on a Telegram channel in condemnation of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a report by Press TV.

She has been held in one of France’s most notorious prisons for a month and a half, during which the French police and judiciary denied her family contact for two weeks.

"We have carried out a great deal of activity, and I can now say that we have reached the point where the exchange of the French prisoners in Iran is now approaching its final stages," Araghchi said in a televised interview on Thursday night.

Iran has repeatedly called for her release, arguing that she has been unjustly detained.

According to Esfandiari's friends and family, her house was thoroughly searched by security personnel on February 28, turning the incident into something eerily resembling a kidnapping.

For two days following her arrest, no information about her whereabouts was disclosed. It was only after persistent follow-ups by her friends and family that they learned she was in police custody.

Esfandiari was subsequently transferred to Fresnes prison, located 470 kilometers away near the capital, Paris.

This considerable distance has made it extremely difficult for her family and friends to pursue her case or provide her with any form of support.

She happens to be a linguist with a degree in French language from Lumiere University and has lived in the French city of Lyon for the past eight years. She works as a professor, translator, and interpreter at Lumiere University.

Furthermore, French authorities refused for an entire month to provide detailed information to the Iranian foreign ministry, which intervened at the family's request.

Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities arrested two French citizens, Cecile Kohler, 40, and Jacques Paris, in his 70s, on May 7, 2022. They were charged with spying for Israel.