Iran says British-Australian freed for 3 Iranians

Iran state TV on Wednesday reported that detained British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert had been released in exchange for three Iranians held abroad.

The report offered 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 on widely criticized espionage charges.

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 Qarchak Prison, east of Tehran.