France is calling on Iran to immediately release French anthropologist Fariba Adelhah, who was jailed in Tehran on Wednesday. The corresponding statement was spread by the French Foreign Ministry, TASS reports.

According to the official position of the French Foreign Office, the charges against the anthropologist are not supported by substantial evidence, and her sentence is purely political and arbitrary.

The decision to re-conclude it can only have negative consequences for relations between France and Iran and reduce trust between our countries, the statement says.

Adelhah was born in Tehran in 1959 and graduated in France. She specializes in Iran and Afghanistan and has worked at the Paris-based Institute for Political Research "Sciance Po". On July 14, 2019, she was detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage, and in May 2020 she was sentenced to five years in prison for "propaganda against the system" and "conspiracy to undermine national security." In the fall of 2020, the preventive measure against her was changed to house arrest, which she was serving in Tehran.