In the midst of the turmoil, the Islamic Republic has begun to erase a major irritant element from its relationship with Paris. Saturday morning, a short press release from the Elysée Palace confirmed the release and the return to national soil, expected in the middle of the day, of the researcher Roland Marchal, imprisoned in Iran since June 2019. This decision comes while Iran, who can no longer ignore the devastating effects of the Covid-19 epidemic, is trying to rally the international community to its cause against the American sanctions, which continue to corset a country now on the brink.
Mr. Marchal was arrested along with his colleague and companion, Franco-Iranian anthropologist Fariba Adelkhah, who remains in detention. Emmanuel Macron urged the authorities to release her immediately. France has repeatedly called for the release of its two nationals, linked, by the Iranian side's own admission, to the fate of two Iranians detained in Belgium and in France. According to the official press, which reported the news as early as Friday evening, its release was enabled by the release of Jalal Rohollahnejad. The Iranian engineer was arrested in France over a year ago at the request of the American authorities, who accuse him of having diverted sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Foreign and binational prisoners, often detained on imprecise charges, are seen as assets, in the eyes of Iranian leaders, in their negotiations with the Western powers. On Wednesday, Iranian-British Nazanin Ratcliffe, for his part, benefited from a temporary release, under house arrest, decided by Iranian justice. American citizen Michael White was also released from prison on Thursday, under the protection of the Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Tehran. The fate of American prisoners has been considered, in recent months, by Swiss diplomacy, as a question that may gradually provide the conditions for broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
These developments are taking place as Iran, one of the main centers in the world of the Covid-19 epidemic, launches a global diplomatic offensive to denounce the American sanctions which target it and which limit, according to the authorities, the the Islamic Republic to respond to the crisis. China and Russia, Iran’s partners on several issues, last week called on Washington to review its sanctions regime. On Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rohani released a letter to the American people on the occasion of the Persian New Year, outlining the sanctions that "Threaten the Iranian health system" as a handicap to the global fight against the epidemic.
