Clotilde Reiss is on trial in Iran.

[toxic avenger]

Yes indeed:

BBC News - French academic Clotilde Reiss 'to be released' by Iran

But apart from actually being innocent, it seems she was being held to get France to release an Iranian accused of spying:

So France arrests an Iranian stealing French military technology and in return Iran kidnaps a French student and threatens to kill her. I suspect Iran has not heard the last of this. The French are pretty brutal when it comes to evening scores. Of all the Western nations I would not like to run afoul of, France tops the list.

They are world-beaters at the back-handed b1tch-slap...

The Iranians now, of course, have a reason to continue to engage in this practice, basically kidnapping innocent westerners, or people employed by westerners, because they know how useful they are as bargaining chips. You can't do deals with such people, they'll end up doing it again and again until you learn the lesson...

[Thranduil]

Yes indeed:

BBC News - French academic Clotilde Reiss 'to be released' by Iran

But apart from actually being innocent, it seems she was being held to get France to release an Iranian accused of spying:

So France arrests an Iranian stealing French military technology and in return Iran kidnaps a French student and threatens to kill her. I suspect Iran has not heard the last of this. The French are pretty brutal when it comes to evening scores. Of all the Western nations I would not like to run afoul of, France tops the list.

There was a good deal of anti-Government activity and foreign-inspired meddling taking place around the time in question. Foreign news agencies like the Guardian and the BBC were almost at the point of openly declaring their partisanship.. the student groups were also likely promoted/supported by foreign intelligence agencies (or let's face it - those intel organisations are crap - because destabilising the Iran Govt as a desired outcome by coalition nations is hardly a secret anymore). Spying allegations would not be unusual even if there hadn't been an attempt to create a velvet coup in the country, given ongoing hostile rhetoric and threats between Iran and Western nations including France you could say that these conditions normalise accusations of spying.

We cannot take on face value the detention of the Iranian for spying in France either and suggest that the charges there somehow have more credibility as nations do not open their national security apparatus to scrutiny and transparency so that we can assess the justifications behind their decisions.... As far as national security goes, anything goes - for big countries which place a much heavier emphasis on what is known as foreign policy than we do.

The Iranians now, of course, have a reason to continue to engage in this practice, basically kidnapping innocent westerners, or people employed by westerners, because they know how useful they are as bargaining chips. You can't do deals with such people, they'll end up doing it again and again until you learn the lesson...

There have been routine abduction of Iranians by the US in Iraq and Iran (according to Seymour Hersh - in covert snatch operations) as well as in other countries for the last decade now, are those ones ok somehow? The US supports terrorism in Iran also, specifically the Baluch group and the Ahwaz separatists whose activites are linked to car bombings.

Seymour Hersh Exposes New US Covert Operations In Iran (VIDEO)

These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country's religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations....

These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of "high-value targets" in the President's war on terror, who may be captured or killed.

Oh how easy it is to be so smug....