Islamic Republic Confirms Arrest of Dual-National Researcher Fariba Adelkhah

Following reports of the arrest of Fariba Adelkhah, a researcher at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, France, the Islamic Republic has confirmed the detention of this Iranian-French researcher.

Ali Rabiei, spokesman for the Iranian government, said regarding the arrest of Fariba Adelkhah, a researcher based in France, that “I have no information on this matter. I heard the news and do not know who arrested her or for what reason.”

Prior to this, unofficial reports about the arrest of this researcher had been published. According to these reports, Ms. Adelkhah was detained on June 7 of this year by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence division.

However, the details of this researcher’s arrest have not yet been confirmed by Iranian official authorities, and it remains unclear what the reason for her arrest was.

The arrest of dual nationals in Iran has a history, and Western analysts say the Islamic Republic uses dual nationals as hostages to extract money and concessions from Western governments. France, which has joined the United States in a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, simultaneously sent the senior adviser to its president to negotiate with Tehran authorities to Iran the previous week.

To date, several French nationals have been arrested in Iran over the past decade. Through negotiation and sometimes prisoner exchanges, Iran has released these individuals. One such case was the release of Clotilde Reiss, a French student who was arrested during the 2009 Iranian protests and was ultimately exchanged for Ali Vakilian-Rad, accused of murdering Shapour Bakhtiar, and Majid Kakavand, accused of involvement in arms trafficking with Iran.

Source: Voice of America