Academic freed by Iran returns to Australia
An Australian-British academic released after two
years imprisoned in Iran on spying charges returned to Australia on Friday,
local media reported.
Middle East scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert touched down
at an airport in the capital Canberra, public broadcaster ABC said.
Her arrival took place away from public spotlight,
with the Australian government saying the 33-year-old had requested privacy as
she comes to terms with her ordeal.
She was released on Wednesday after what she called
two "traumatic" years behind bars, in a swap for three Iranians
linked to a botched Bangkok bomb plot.
A government jet flew into Canberra on Friday
evening from an airbase on the country's west coast, where it is believed
Moore-Gilbert was transferred from her initial flight out of the Middle East.
She was arrested by Iran's hardline Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2018, after attending an academic conference in
the holy city of Qom in central Iran.
She was later charged with espionage and sentenced
to ten years in jail, allegations she has denied.
"I came to Iran as a friend and with friendly
intentions," she said in a statement on her release, praising the
"warm-hearted, generous and brave" Iranian people, despite what she
called a "long and traumatic ordeal".
Her release was secured as part of a prisoner swap
for three men: Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, Mohammad Khazaei and wheelchair-bound
Saeid Moradi, who blew off his own legs with homemade explosives.
All three were linked to a failed plot to
assassinate Israeli diplomats in Thailand in 2012.
The Thai government confirmed Thursday it had
returned the three Iranians, two as prisoners and a third who was granted a
royal pardon in August.
