A 24-year-old female French teaching assistant has been charged in Iran for spying, but her family is desperately hoping she will be free on bail over the weekend. 

Clotilde Reiss was arrested on spying charges on July 1 as she prepared to go home after spending five months working as a teaching assistant at the University of Isfahan. She has been accused of participating in a Western plot to destabilize the Iranian government during the massive protests over the June 12 election, won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. France has said the charges are baseless and has called for Reiss’ immediate release. Reiss is currently being detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison — the same prison in which Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was kept before her release earlier this year, and where many political activists and women are housed.

Although Iran this week announced Reiss would be free pending her verdict — her trial was last week — but couldn’t leave the country, Tehran yesterday delayed her release on bail. The French Foreign Ministry asked Tehran to "align its deeds with its words," reports The Times. Her father, Remi, said that the French embassy in Tehran was ready to pay hundreds of thousands of euros in bail. 

There’s no word yet today on whether Iran will in fact allow Reiss to be released, but France is working hard to make it happen. We’ll keep you updated on the case.