AFP: A French woman was detained in Iran last week on spying charges, France's foreign ministry said Monday, demanding her release.
PARIS (AFP) — A French woman was detained in Iran last week on spying charges, France's foreign ministry said Monday, demanding her release.
"France firmly condemns the July 1 arrest and detention by Iran of a French academic," the ministry said in a statement, without revealing the name of the woman or the university she was linked to.
"The spying charges put forward by the Iranian authorities do not pass the test," the statement added.
The woman had been in Iran for five months when she was arrested at the airport as she was about to leave the country, it said.
"We call on the Iranian authorities to immediately release our compatriot and authorise her to leave Iran toward France," the ministry said.
"France has informed its European partners about his subject and appeals for the solidarity of all Europeans."
The announcement came as the 27-nation European Union mulls a response to Iran's arrest of local British embassy staff members in Tehran.
All but one of the nine local employees have been released. Iran has accused them of instigating riots over the contested re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
