Iran, France Swap Prisoners

TEHRAN (defapress) – Tehran and Paris swapped an Iranian engineer who had been arrested over alleged violation of the US sanctions and a French national imprisoned in Iran for acting against national security.

News ID: 80570

Date: 21 March 2020 - 12:59

France on Friday released Iranian engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad who had been detained by Paris over alleged violations of US sanctions against Tehran.

The Iranian engineer had been arrested in the airport of Nice in France in 2019 at the request of the US Department of Justice.

In May 2019, a French court approved the extradition of Rouhollahnejad to the US to face charges of attempting to illegally import US technology for military purposes.

As part of the swap, Iran also released Roland Gabriel Marchal, who was sentenced to five years in prison for acting against national security.

The French national’s imprisonment term was commuted and he was handed over to the French embassy in Tehran on Friday.