Emmanuel Macron asked Iranian President Hassan Rohani on Tuesday to “release without delay” the two researchers detained in Iran, including Fariba Adelkhah, against whom the accusation of espionage was raised.
Spying charges dropped
“Taking note of recent developments”, Emmanuel Macron “called for the immediate release of our compatriots Fariba Adelkhah and Roland Marchal”, said the Elysee after a telephone interview between the two presidents also on the situation tense in the area.
Fariba Adelkhah, Franco-Iranian, specialist in Shiism at the Center for International Research (CERI) at Sciences Po Paris, and Roland Marchal, French, specialist in the Horn of Africa, also at CERI, were arrested in June. Paris has continued to demand their release since then.
Iranian judicial authorities have dropped the charge of spying on Fariba Adelkhah, his lawyer Said Dehghan announced on Tuesday, welcoming the drop of this charge which could lead to the death penalty in some cases.
The researcher remains prosecuted on two other counts: “propaganda against the system” political of the Islamic Republic, and “collusion in order to attack national security”, according to the lawyer. The first charge is punishable by three months to one year in prison, the second by two to five years.
Interference in internal affairs
Roland Marchal is also prosecuted for “collusion with a view to attacking national security”. Faced with repeated requests from Paris for their release, Tehran denounces what it presents as interference in its internal affairs.
Iran does not recognize dual nationality. Arrests of foreigners in Iran, including binationals, often accused of spying, have increased since the unilateral withdrawal in 2018 of the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement and the reinstatement of harsh American sanctions against Tehran.
France once again called on “Iran to refrain from any measure likely to aggravate the ongoing escalation” in the region after the assassination of an Iranian general by an American strike in Iraq.
According to CERI, Fariba Adelkhah and an Australian academic, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, detained with her at Evin prison in Tehran, went on an indefinite hunger strike on December 24. Dehghan said his client was continuing the hunger strike.
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