France: Iran Denies Consular Access to Fariba Adelkhah

France’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the Islamic Republic is denying consular access to Fariba Adelkhah, a detained Iranian-French researcher. 

France’s Foreign Ministry has stated that the country has repeatedly requested permission to meet with Fariba Adelkhah while calling for her release. 

Fariba Adelkhah, an Iranian-French researcher, was detained in Iran on June 7. Adelkhah holds a degree in sociology from the University of Strasbourg in France and earned her doctorate from the “School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences” in Paris. She has conducted extensive research primarily in the field of women’s issues.

Previously, Ali Rabiei, spokesman for the Iranian government, stated that he had no information about the detaining authority or the reasons for Adelkhah’s arrest. 

Over the past decade, several French nationals have been detained in Iran, and through negotiations and sometimes prisoner exchanges, Iran has released these individuals. One such case was the release of Clotilde Reiss, a French student who was detained during the 2009 Iran protests and was ultimately exchanged for Ali Vakilian-Rad, accused of murdering Shapour Bakhtiar, and Majid Kakavand, accused of arms trafficking cooperation with Iran.

The Islamic Republic recently arrested Kameel Ahmadi, an Iranian-British researcher. 

The detention of dual nationals in Iran has a long history, and Western analysts argue that the Islamic Republic uses dual-national individuals as hostages to extract money and concessions from Western governments. 

Currently, in addition to Zhu Wang, several American and non-American citizens—including Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Michael White, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe—are imprisoned in Iran. There is no information regarding the fate of Robert Levinson, another American citizen who disappeared in Iran over twelve years ago.

The United States Department of State has repeatedly condemned the arbitrary and unlawful detention of American citizens and nationals of other countries, including Iranian dual nationals, by the Islamic Republic regime and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.

Source: Voice of America