Iranian authorities detained British-Australian university lecturer Kylie Moore-Gilbert after discovering she was in a relationship with an Israeli, which fuelled baseless suspicions that she was a spy, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday, citing multiple diplomatic and government sources.
The newspaper said that once Iran found out about her partner, officials moved to arrest Moore-Gilbert at Tehran airport in September 2018. The Cambridge-educated expert in Middle East politics was sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, allegations she has always denied.
Australian government sources, who asked not to be named as they had not been authorised to discuss the talks, told the paper it had taken more than six months of sometimes-delicate discussions to put the deal together, and Foreign Minister Marise Payne had been central to the “quiet diplomacy” strategy and the inclusion of third-party governments in the talks.
While welcoming Moore-Gilbert’s release, human rights groups raised concerns about what they said was Iran’s use of “hostage diplomacy”.
