[Iran Press TV Latest] The French Foreign Ministry says it has summoned the Iranian ambassador over the arrest of a French academic on espionage charges. The ministry did not disclose the woman's name but said that it had called for the Iranian envoy on Monday to demand her release, AP reported. Paris claims that the woman was arrested last week as she was about to leave Iran after spending five months in the country studying. The ministry claimed that the French envoy in Tehran had also objected to the woman's detention and the charges brought against her.
In a Monday evening interview with France Info radio, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, also commented on the issue, claiming that the charges were "absurd".
"The spying charges put forward by the Iranian authorities do not pass the test," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, AFP reported. The ministry says it is in close contact with the family of the detained woman.