British-Australian academic accused of ties to Jewish university freed by Iran

An Australian-British academic imprisoned by Iran for espionage on charges that she worked for MI6 and had links with Jewish universities has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange.

Iranian state media showed Kylie Moore-Gilbert being released from prison after more than 800 days behind bars while describing her as “a spy with dual nationality” who worked for Israel.

A Middle East scholar at the University of Melbourne, she was arrested at Tehran’s airport by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in September 2018 after attending an academic conference in the holy city of Qom, in central Iran.

According to letters she smuggled out of prison and published in January, Moore-Gilbert rejected Tehran’s offer to work as a spy. She said: “I am not a spy. I have never been a spy. I have no interest in spying for any organisation.”

Two of the Iranian men who were released as part of the prisoner swap are believed to have been convicted of terrorism eight years ago in Thailand. Prosecutors said they were part of an attempt to assassinate Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.