Podcast: Middle East war, women in politics, Khomeini's last days in France

About this episode

The episode discusses France's role in the Middle East war, the push for gender parity in local elections, and Khomeini's last days in France.

France's balancing act in the Middle East war. Convincing women to run in France's local elections. And the French village where Iran's first supreme leader spent his last months in exile. France has deployed navy vessels to the Mediterranean and Red Sea to protect countries attacked by Iran in retaliation for strikes by the United States and Israel. It says it is staying out of the war, maintaining a "strictly defensive" stance to support its allies and protect its interests in the region. Defence expert Guillaume Lagane, who teaches international relations at Sciences Po Paris, examines France's position and the delicate balancing act it is pursuing. (Listen @2'45'') France heads to the polls on 15 and 22 March to elect its mayors and town councillors. We already know that half of the councillors will be women, after a 2025 law imposed gender-balanced lists in every one of France's nearly 35,000 communes. Putting forward an equal number of male and female candidates can be challenging in a village like Fresnes-lès-Montauban in northern France, where non-profit Elles Aussi is helping encourage women to run. Julia Mouzon, founder of the Elues Locales network that supports and…

People in this episode

Guests: Guillaume Lagane, Julia Mouzon

Topics covered

• Middle East war
• women in politics
• gender parity
• local elections
• Khomeini's exile
• France's foreign policy

Keywords

• France
• Middle East
• women in politics
• local elections
• Khomeini
• gender balance
• Iran
• Guillaume Lagane
• Julia Mouzon

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Elles Aussi

Places: France, Iran, United States, Israel, Fresnes-lès-Montauban, Mediterranean, Red Sea

More episodes of Spotlight on France

• Podcast: Protecting whistleblowers, homegrown fertiliser, daylight savings in France · June 4, 2026 · 32 min
• Podcast: Grappling with legacies of slavery, French film industry crisis · May 21, 2026 · 33 min
• Podcast: French raves, accent insecurity, birth of the Front Populaire · May 7, 2026 · 36 min
• Podcast: 'New' antisemitism, Statue of Liberty, France's first female general · April 9, 2026 · 31 min
• Podcast: French Greens, skiing's melting future, nuclear radio hoax · March 26, 2026 · 31 min
• Podcast: student poverty, kids and social media, a French woman in Tibet · February 12, 2026 · 33 min