Iran has sent French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah back to prison from house arrest, her support group said in Paris on Wednesday, in a shock development amid delicate talks on the Iranian nuclear deal.
Ms Adelkhah was sentenced in May 2020 to five years in prison for conspiring against national security, accusations her supporters have denounced as absurd.
She was allowed home in Tehran in October 2020 with an electronic bracelet.
Ms Adelkhah is one of at least a dozen western nationals believed to be held in Iran. Activists say they are being held as hostages at the behest of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to extract concessions from the West.
With talks continuing in Vienna aimed at salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, the French Foreign Ministry warned the move would damage bilateral relations and trust.
"It is with great shock and indignation that we have been informed that Fariba Adelkhah ... has been re-imprisoned in the prison of Evin" in Tehran, the committee set up to support her said.
"The Iranian government is cynically using our colleague for external or internal purposes that remain opaque, and that have nothing to do with her activities."
The committee accused the authorities of "deliberately endangering Fariba Adelkhah's health and even her life", pointing to the death this month in Iranian custody of poet Baktash Abtin after he contracted Covid-19.
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian complained on Tuesday that the pace of talks in Vienna is "too slow", in marked contrast to the more upbeat tone from officials in Tehran.
The French Foreign Ministry expressed "astonishment" at the reimprisonment of Ms Adelkhah, calling for her immediate release and saying the move was made with "no explanation or preliminary warning".
"The decision can only have negative consequences on the relationship between France and Iran and reduce confidence between our two countries," the ministry said.
Also being held in Iran is Frenchman Benjamin Briere. His family say he was an innocent tourist who was detained while travelling in May.
Mr Briere's family announced last month that he had begun a hunger strike to protest against his detention conditions and the lack of evolution in his case.
A specialist in Shiite Islam and a research director at Sciences Po university in Paris, Ms Adelkhah was arrested in June 2019 along with her French colleague and partner, Roland Marchal.
Mr Marchal was released in March 2020 in an apparent prisoner swap after France released Iranian engineer Jalal Rohollahnejad, who faced extradition to the US over accusations that he breached American sanctions against Iran.
Ms Adelkah's support group said she had been imprisoned "on trumped-up charges and without any proper trial".
Nationals of the three European powers involved in the talks on the Iranian nuclear programme – Britain, France and Germany – are among the foreigners being held.
Also on Wednesday, the British Council said its staff member, Iranian citizen Aras Amiri, had returned to the UK after being cleared on appeal of a 10-year jail sentence for "cultural infiltration" in Iran.
The 2015 nuclear deal – agreed to by Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany – offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme.
But then US president Donald Trump withdrew the US in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Tehran to begin breaking its commitments.
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From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
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The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
Ten10 Cricket League
Venue and schedule Sharjah Cricket Stadium, December 14 to 17
Teams
Maratha Arabians Leading player: Virender Sehwag; Top picks: Mohammed Amir, Imad Wasim; UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Khan
Bengal Lions Leading player: Sarfraz Ahmed; Top picks: Sunil Narine, Mustafizur Rahman; UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Rameez Shahzad
Kerala Kings Leading player: Eoin Morgan; Top picks: Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir; UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Imran Haider
Pakhtoons Leading player: Shahid Afridi; Top picks: Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal; UAE players: Amjad Javed, Saqlain Haider
Punjabi Legends Leading player: Shoaib Malik; Top picks: Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan; UAE players: Ghulam Shabber, Shareef Asadullah
Team Sri Lanka Cricket Will be made up of Colombo players who won island’s domestic limited-overs competition
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Super Bowl LIII schedule
What Super Bowl LIII
Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams
Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States
When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)
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