Roland Marchal

French social sciences researcher Roland Marchal, 64, who was released by Iran in a prisoner exchange last month after spending nine months in jail on spying charges, has described the harsh conditions of isolation he was held in after his arrest and that of fellow researcher Fariba Adelkhah, who remains in a Tehran prison.

A support group calling for the release of two French academic researchers, Fariba Adelkhah and Roland Marchal, held since last June in a Tehran prison on allegations of threatening Iranian national security, has said that Adelkhah, who began a hunger strike in December, is now 'very weakened' and that Marchal is suffering worsened ill health due to his captivity.

Iran's ambassador to France was on Thursday summoned to a meeting at the French foreign ministry when he was told that Paris is demanding the release of two French academic researchers held on spying accusations in a notorious Tehran prison, where one of them is on hunger strike. 

A senior researcher at Science-Po university in Paris and his Franco-Iranian colleague have been in prison in Iran since June.

France has demanded the release Roland Marchal, a senior researcher from Paris political sciences school Science-Po and his Franco-Iranian colleague Fariba Adelkhah, who, it was revealed, have been detained in Iran since June.