Iran and France have agreed to swap a French academic held on security charges and an Iranian detained by Paris over alleged violations of US sanctions against Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Friday. France has released Jalal Ruhollahnejad, an Iranian engineer wanted by US authorities over sanctions charges, state broadcaster IRIB said on its website. “Roland Gabriel Marchal, who was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for acting against national security … had his sentence reduced and was released from prison today and handed over to the French embassy in Tehran,” IRIB also reported. France had demanded that Iran release Marchal, a senior researcher at Sciences Po university whose arrest was reported by Paris in mid-October. The French Foreign Ministry and the presidential palace declined to comment. The released Iranian’s lawyer did not respond to text messages. There had been talk of an exchange being discussed, but French officials had refused to comment directly, saying only that there had been progress in recent days. In May, a French court approved the extradition of Rouhollahnejad to the United States to face charges of attempting to illegally import US technology for military purposes on behalf of an Iranian company which US officials said was linked to the elite Revolutionary Guards. The detentions have complicated ties between the two countries during a period when French President Emmanuel Macron was seeking to defuse tensions between Washington and Tehran. Iran Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage charges. The detentions have coincided with a protracted standoff with Western powers prompted by a US decision to withdraw from an international agreement to curb Iranian nuclear activities. Rights activists have accused Iran of arresting the dual nationals and foreign citizens in an attempt to win concessions from other countries – a charge that the Islamic Republic has regularly dismissed. Read more: Iran frees 85,000 prisoners due to coronavirus, says judiciary spokesman Iran frees 7 Christians from coronavirus-struck prisons, many more at risk اي استفسار أو طلب خاص بخصوص التوظيف يمكنك التواصل مع الابميل التالي – مجير الموقع : alturky28@gmail.com لطلبات التصميم او البرمجة التواصل مع : hamzalaabar@gmail.com The post Iran and France agree to prisoner swap of Iranian engineer, French academic appeared first on السعودية وطن.