TWO French academics detained in Iran for six months have lost a bid to be released on bail and their case will now go before the Revolutionary Court, Iranian media reported.

Roland Marchal, a researcher at Sciences Po in Paris, was arrested in June together with Fariba Adelkhah, an academic at the same university. They are accused of espionage.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Tuesday for Iran to release the pair without delay, saying “their imprisonment is intolerable.” His appeal came on international human rights day and followed a prisoner swap at the weekend between Iran and the United States.

Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA said Tuesday that a judge had decided to release the French academics on bail, as they had been entitled to it after six months in detention.

But this was opposed by the prosecution, and as a result the case was referred to Iran’s Revolutionary Court to settle the dispute, ISNA said.

The arrest of Adelkhah, a Franco-Iranian specialist in Shiite Islam, was confirmed July 16 by Iran’s judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili, who gave no further details.

(SD-Agencies)