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France seeks to extradite an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France – French prosecutors are calling a court of appeal to approve the extradition of an Iranian engineer to the United States after his arrest for violating US sanctions against Tehran.
Jalal Rohollahnejad, 41, was arrested at the Nice airport on February 2 after leaving Tehran via Moscow, after obtaining a French visa for professional reasons.
According to judicial officials, Rohollahnejad, a suspect from the District of Columbia, was allegedly involved in an attempt to export sensitive industrial equipment to Iran.
After withdrawing from a historic agreement reached in 2015 in which Tehran had agreed to limit its nuclear ambitions, Washington re-imposed a broad trade embargo on the Islamic Republic.
The equipment, parts for industrial microwaves and anti-drone systems, were allegedly smuggled as part of an order for the United Arab Emirates.
Officials claim that with modifications, it could be used to make ultra-precise weapons.
Rohollahnejad is believed to have worked for the Iranian firm Rayan Roshd Afzar, allegedly linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
S & # 39; he was found guilty of his alleged acts, between June 2016 and April 2018, Rohollahnejad could be sentenced to 60 years in prison.
At Tuesday's hearing in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, his lawyers denied the allegations, saying the accusations were simply part of Washington's campaign to stop Iran's survival. .
"Is it possible that the court has forgotten the situation between the United States and Iran, two countries in cold war?", Said a lawyer, Jean-Yves Le Borgne.
But prosecutor Serge Bocoviz said the alleged charges were consistent with French law, which means there was no legal impediment to Rohollahnejad's extradition.
The court of appeal will render its decision on May 22.
– AFP
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