A British-Australian professor who spent 804 days in some of Iran’s most infamous prisons has been arrested for dating an Israeli, a report says.
Dr Kelly Moore-Gilbert was released on Thursday after the Australian government secretly arranged for a complex prisoner exchange involving Thailand.
The university lecturer was stopped at Tehran airport in 2018 with the intention of making false accusations of being a spy.
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Senior government and diplomatic officials now say the real reason behind Moore-Gilbert’s detention was that Iranian officials learned she was romantically involved with an Israeli citizen.
Dr. Moore-Gilbert was sentenced to 10 years in prison on original espionage charges, which she and the Australian Australian government denied.
25 Nov. In this frame of Iranian state television video aired on the 25th, British-Australian Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert is seen in Tehran, Iran. Iran has released Moore-Gilbert, who has been detained in Iran for more than two years, in exchange for three Iranians abroad, state TV reported on Wednesday. (Iranian state television via AP)
Australian authorities, including Foreign Secretary Mary Payne, have adopted a “quiet diplomacy” strategy over the past 12 months and have not commented publicly on the case due to their sensitive nature.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morris declined to comment on any details of her release, saying only that she had been “relieved” that she was safe and that she was returning to Australia.
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“For the sake of protecting the safety of all other Austral Australians who may find themselves in potentially difficult situations, Australian Australian Governments have always dealt very discreetly with these issues.”
Australia’s ambassador to Thailand, Lan Lan M Kinn, has been working with Thai authorities to free three Iranian militants who allegedly plotted to assassinate Israeli diplomats in exchange for a Melbourne University lecturer.
His family said they were “relieved and emotional” while Moore-Gilbert “expressed his love and appreciation for the great nation of Iran and its loving heart, generous and brave people.”
