Iran says British-Australian academic freed for 3 Iranians

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 reports.

The report offers no further details 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 is not immediately clear when Moore-Gilbert will arrive back in Australia. State TV airs video showing her with a gray hijab sitting at what appears to be a greeting room at one of Tehran’s airports. She wears a blue face mask under her chin. The footage shows 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.

News: Iran releases British Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert in a swap for three Iranian men held abroad.
First footage: pic.twitter.com/n98gTAAbIi

— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) November 25, 2020

— AP