France Calls on Iran to Release Jailed Researcher

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting with representatives of families of repatriates from Algeria after the country's independence war with its colonial power at the Elysee palace in Paris, Wednesday Jan. 26, 2022. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting with representatives of families of repatriates from Algeria after the country's independence war with its colonial power at the Elysee palace in Paris, Wednesday Jan. 26, 2022. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
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France Calls on Iran to Release Jailed Researcher

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting with representatives of families of repatriates from Algeria after the country's independence war with its colonial power at the Elysee palace in Paris, Wednesday Jan. 26, 2022. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting with representatives of families of repatriates from Algeria after the country's independence war with its colonial power at the Elysee palace in Paris, Wednesday Jan. 26, 2022. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron called for the “immediate release” of a French-Iranian researcher imprisoned in Iran, officials said Sunday.

Macron made the plea in a “long” phone call on Saturday with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, according to a statement from the French presidency.

Fariba Adelkhah, a 62-year-old anthropologist, has been detained in Iran since June 2019. She had been under house arrest since October 2020, but was sent back to prison earlier this month, The Associated Press said.

Adelkhah was given a five-year sentence for “gathering and collusion” against Iran’s security. French authorities said her conviction is “purely political and arbitrary.”

Macron also expressed his “concerns” over the situation of another French national detained in Iran who is on a hunger strike to protest his treatment, according to the French presidency's statement.

Benjamin Brière, 36 has been sentenced to eight years in prison on what his lawyer said are trumped up espionage and propaganda charges.

Brière was arrested in May 2020 after taking pictures in a desert area where photography is prohibited and asking questions on social media about Iran’s obligatory headscarf for women.

France and other world powers are in negotiations with Iran in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.

Macron “insisted on the need to speed up (negotiations) to quickly get tangible progress,” the statement said.

Rights groups accuse hard-liners in Iran’s security agencies of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips for money or influence in negotiations with the West. Tehran denies it, but there have been prisoner exchanges in the past.

In March 2020, Iran and France swapped French researcher Roland Marchal for Iranian engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad.



Netanyahu Expected to Talk Tariffs with Trump in Washington on Monday, Officials Say

US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, US, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File photo
US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, US, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File photo
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Netanyahu Expected to Talk Tariffs with Trump in Washington on Monday, Officials Say

US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, US, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File photo
US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, US, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss recently announced tariffs with US President Donald Trump, three Israeli officials said on Saturday.

The impromptu visit was first reported by Axios, which said that if the visit takes place, the Israeli leader would be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in person to try to negotiate a deal to remove tariffs.

Netanyahu's office has not confirmed the visit, that would likely also include discussions on Iran and Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

The surprise invite by Trump came in a phone-call on Thursday with Netanyahu, who is presently on a visit to Hungary, when the Israeli leader raised the tariff issue, according to the Israeli officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, Reuters reported.

As part of a sweeping new tariff policy announced by Trump, unspecified Israeli goods exports to the United States face a 17% tariff. The US is Israel's closest ally and largest single trading partner.

An Israeli finance ministry official said on Thursday that Trump's latest tariff announcement could impact Israel's exports of machinery and medical equipment.

Israel had already moved to cancel its remaining tariffs on US imports on Tuesday. The two countries signed a free trade agreement 40 years ago and about 98% of goods from the US are now tax-free.