French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Iran to release a jailed French-Iranian academic as well as speed up the ongoing nuclear negotiations, if Tehran hopes to get sanctions relief during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi.
Macron’s office said that the President called for the “immediate release” of Fariba Adelkhah, 62, who holds dual French-Iranian citizenship and teaches anthropology at the Sciences Po university in Paris. Adelkhah, who has been under house arrest in Iran since October 2020, was sent to prison earlier this month on charges of spying.
Iran, which does not recognise Adelkhah’s French citizenship, arrested her in 2019 and sentenced her to five years in prison next year for “gathering and collusion” against Iran and “security charges including conspiring against national security.”
An Iranian court ordered the arrest of Adelkhah two weeks ago after judicial authorities accused her of “violating the limits of [her] house arrest dozens of times […] despite repeated warnings.”
France has repeatedly called on Iran to release the academic since her initial incarceration and has said that her arrest was arbitrary and politically motivated.
Macron also called for the release of another French citizen, Benjamin Brière, 36, who was arrested in 2020 for taking photos in an area where photography is prohibited and for questioning Iran’s mandatory Islamic headscarf for women. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and is on an indefinite hunger strike.
Moreover, Macron discussed the ongoing nuclear negotiations to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between world powers and Iran. He told Raisi that a return to the deal and the lifting of sanctions was possible only if Tehran accelerates efforts.
The French President insisted that this was necessary “in order to quickly achieve tangible progress” in reviving the deal. He also underscored “the need for Iran to demonstrate a constructive approach and return to the full implementation of its obligations” under the JCPOA.
Raisi, however, blamed the United States’ “maximum pressure” policy for the lack of progress in the talks. “Iran has shown its will and seriousness to reach an agreement in the negotiation process, and any effort by the other side in this regard should include the lifting of sanctions, verification and valid guarantee,” he said.
The West has expressed concerns about Iran’s recent nuclear moves and said that Tehran is acting in bad faith. It has also accused Iran of violating its commitments under the JCPOA and of taking escalatory measures that have resulted in a “nuclear crisis.”
In December, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran of enriching uranium with highly advanced centrifuges at its Fordow nuclear power plant. The nuclear watchdog said that Tehran has started the process of enriching uranium to 20% purity using a cluster of 166 advanced IR-6 machines at Fordow.
The IAEA also reported in August that Iran has been enriching uranium to 60% fissile purity, closer to the weapons-grade level of 90%. The 2015 deal stated that Iran could only enrich uranium up to 3.67% for the next 15 years.
Iran and world powers resumed the seventh round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna to restore the JCPOA on November 29 after Tehran abruptly ended talks in June. The eighth round of talks are currently underway. Tehran has demanded that Washington remove all sanctions and guarantee that it will never withdraw from the deal once signed.