Prosecutors reject US request to extradite Iranian engineer

French prosecutors have turned down a US request to extradite Iranian engineer Majid Kakavand after French armament experts concluded that equipment allegedly exported to Iran by the defendant could not be considered a threat.

By Aurore Cloe DUPUIS (video)
News Wires (text)

AFP - French prosecutors on Wednesday opposed a US request to extradite an Iranian engineer accused by US authorities of buying sensitive technology and illegally exporting them to Iran.

Majid Kakavand, 37, is wanted for trial in the United States on charges of violating export laws on dual-use technology that could be used for military purposes.

During a court hearing in Paris, the prosecutors noted that the French arms agency DGA had concluded that the electronics components purchased by Kakavand could not be considered as potentially dangerous dual-use technology.

"The allegations by US authorities were not punishable in France at that time," the lead prosecutor told the hearing attended by US justice officials.

US authorities accuse Kakavand of buying measuring instruments and the components from companies in New Jersey, Alabama and California through a Malaysian firm and exporting them illegally to Iran.

Kakavand was arrested at Paris airport on March 20 last year. Iran is demanding his release.

Kakavand's case comes as France is seeking the release from Iran of 24-year-old French academic Clotilde Reiss, who has been tried on charges of acting against Iranian national security.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has linked Reiss's release to the fate of Iranians held in French jails.