President Emmanuel Macron yesterday announced that Iran has freed a French researcher imprisoned in the Islamic republic after France released an Iranian threatened with extradition to the US. Macron "is happy to announce the release of Roland Marchal, imprisoned in Iran since June 2019" but he "urges the Iranian authorities to immediately free" Fariba Adelkhah, an anthropologist, his office said. France has for months demanded that Iran release Adelkhah and her partner Marchal, who were detained in June 2019, accused of plotting against national security.  Iran has in recent months carried out prisoner exchanges with the US, Australia and Germany.