MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2020) The Iranian authorities must release French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, who has been sentenced to six years in prison, as her imprisonment is damaging bilateral relations, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.
On May 16, the researcher was sentenced to five years in prison on national security charges and one year in prison for propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
"We [France] urge them [Iran] to release Fariba Adelkhah as soon as possible. This decision [a sentence of May 16] makes our relations with the Iranian authorities much more difficult, although they were not simple," Le Drian said in an appearance on France Inter.
Adelkhah, a French anthropologist of Iranian origin, was arrested in June 2019 alongside another French researcher, Roland Marchal. Both employees of the French institute for political research, Sciences Po, were charged with conspiring against national security and espionage.
The Tehran authorities dropped the initial charges of espionage against Adelkhah in January but accusations of violating national security remain in effect.
Adelkha, however, cannot benefit from any French consular assistance, unlike Marchal, who was released in March, as Iran does not recognize her dual nationality and thus has rejected France's numerous calls for her release.
