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Australian Kylie Moore Gilbert
An Australian newspaper revealed the real reason behind the arrest of British Australian Academy Kylie Moore Gilbert in Iran for more than 800 days before her release Thursday in a prisoner exchange deal.
Australian newspaper “The Age” quoted government officials and diplomats as saying that the real reason behind Glebert Academy’s arrest is that “Iranian officials have discovered that she is emotionally connected to an Israeli citizen.”
Iran had arrested Gilbert at the Tehran airport in 2018, on espionage charges, before she was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, which Gilbert and the Australian government strongly denied.
Gilbert was released as part of a deal that included the release of three Iranians detained in Thailand accused of conspiring to kill two Israeli diplomats in Bangkok in 2012.
According to the newspaper, Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne played a pivotal and silent role in completing the deal, after meeting with her Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, four times over the past two years. The discussions also included the Israeli government.
Under the terms of the deal, all interested parties agreed not to announce the deal due to its diplomatically sensitive nature, but the Iranian regime quickly broke this promise, according to The Age newspaper.
Iran does not establish diplomatic relations with Israel, while its relationship with the United States is strained, especially during the era of President Donald Trump. Currently, it is under heavy pressure due to its destabilizing policies in the region.
Iran has previously arrested foreigners and even dual-national Iranians, accused of spying for the United States and Israel.
