Fariba Adelkhah: French-Iranian academic released from Iran jail

Supporters of Fariba Adelkhah argued she had been unjustly imprisoned in Iran

An Iranian-French academic has been released from jail in Teheran after spending more than three years in prison, France's foreign ministry says.

Fariba Adelkhah was given a five-year jail term in 2020 for conspiring against national security and one year for propaganda, which she denied.

Her university, SciencesPo in Paris, announced the news "with happiness and relief".

Although, it is not yet clear when Ms Adelkhah will be released.

Supporters of Ms Adelkhah have always vehemently denied the charges she has faced, saying that the academic been unjustly imprisoned.

The researcher is a specialist in social anthropology and the political anthropology of post-revolutionary Iran, and has written a number of books, including Revolution under the Veil: Islamic Women of Iran.

At the time of her arrest in June 2019 she was examining the movement of Shia clerics between Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, and had spent time in the holy city of Qom.

France's foreign ministry said in a statement that it welcomed her release from Evin prison in Tehran, saying Ms Adelkhah had been "unjustly detained".

"It is essential that Fariba Adelkhah can recover all of her freedoms, including that of returning to France if she wishes," the statement added.

In a tweet SciencesPo said: "It is with happiness and relief that we announce the release of our dear colleague Fariba Adelkhah, arbitrarily detained in Iran for more than three years.

"Hostage of the local authorities, she was a scientific prisoner.

"Thank you to everyone who made his release possible."

In recent years, Iran has arrested dozens of foreign and dual nationals on national security charges. The Iranian authorities do not recognise dual nationality for Iranian citizens