Share
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has freed Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian academic who has been detained in Iran for more than two years, in exchange for three Iranians held abroad, state TV reported Wednesday.
The state TV report offered no further details Wednesday beyond saying that the three Iranians released in the swap had been detained for trying to bypass sanctions.
Moore-Gilbert was a Melbourne University lecturer on Middle Eastern studies when she was sent to Tehran’s Evin Prison in September 2018 and sentenced to 10 years. She is one of several Westerners held in Iran on internationally criticized espionage charges that their families and rights groups say are unfounded.
It was not immediately clear when Moore-Gilbert would arrive back in Australia. State TV aired video showing her with a gray hijab sitting at what appeared to be a greeting room at one of Tehran’s airports. She wore a blue face mask under her chin. The footage showed three men with Iranian flags over their shoulders — those freed in exchange for her being released. State TV earlier described them as “economic activists,” without elaborating.
International pressure on Iran to secure her release has escalated in recent months following reports that her health was deteriorating during long stretches of solitary confinement and that she had been transferred to the notorious Qarchak Prison, east of Tehran.
Moore-Gilbert has gone on hunger strikes and pleaded for the Australian government to do more to free her. Those pleas included writing to the prime minister that she had been subjected to “grievous violations” of her rights, including psychological torture and solitary confinement.
Her detention has further strained relations between Iran and the West, which reached a fever pitch earlier this year following the American killing of a top Iranian general in Baghdad and retaliatory Iranian strikes on a U.S. military base.
RELATED TOPICS:
Fresno Man Pleads Guilty in $30 Million Fraud Scheme
7 hours ago
Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to Prison Sentence for Mexican National in Fentanyl Case
7 hours ago
Statue of Confederate General Albert Pike to Be Reinstalled in Washington
8 hours ago
Record Number of Senate Democrats Vote to Block Israel Weapons Sales
9 hours ago
Fresno County House Fire Displaces Two Adults and Injures Dog
9 hours ago
Should Lyft and Uber Charge More if Your Phone Battery Is Low? California May Ban That
10 hours ago
US Government Restricts Sports Visas for Transgender Women
10 hours ago
Tulare County Inmate Dies After Collapsing at Jail
12 hours ago
Fresno Police Investigating Fatal Shooting of 70-Year-Old Man
12 hours ago
Israel to Decide Next Steps in Gaza After Ceasefire Talks Collapse
12 hours ago
House Democrats Renew Effort Calling for Palestinian Statehood
6 hours ago
Categories

House Democrats Renew Effort Calling for Palestinian Statehood

US DOJ to Open Grand Jury Probe Into Obama Officials, Source Says

Fresno Man Pleads Guilty in $30 Million Fraud Scheme

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to Prison Sentence for Mexican National in Fentanyl Case

Statue of Confederate General Albert Pike to Be Reinstalled in Washington

Record Number of Senate Democrats Vote to Block Israel Weapons Sales

Fresno County House Fire Displaces Two Adults and Injures Dog
