Iran swaps the imprisoned Australians with three Iranians

Islamic scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert was released from Iran.

The modern Middle East / Reuters

Iran released Kylie Moore-Gilbert on Wednesday. The Australian-British scientist was arrested in September 2018 on suspicion of spying. According to Iranian media, the researcher was swapped with three Iranians who were detained overseas for violating sanctions. One video released by state television showed Moore-Gilbert with a large gray veil and a face mask, as she enters a minibus. There were also three men – one sitting in a wheelchair with his legs amputated above the knee – who wore black berets and Iranian flags over their shoulders.

A welcoming committee headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gave them a heroic welcome and put flower garlands around their necks. Two years after Moore-Gilbert’s conviction, the Islamic Republic decided to exchange it for “three Iranian economic activists who were arrested for evading sanctions,” the Mehr news agency wrote. The Iranian media initially did not provide further information on the men.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne was relieved to see Moore-Gilbert’s release. Payne said she was reached through diplomatic channels in consultation with her family. Moore-Gilbert and his family have demanded that their privacy be protected. The minister did not provide any information on the alleged exchange of prisoners.

In a Telegram channel run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, it was said that the Australian had been released in exchange for three Iranians imprisoned in Thailand. They were unjustly convicted of attempted murder of the Israeli ambassador and of a bomb attack.

In February 2012, Iranian agents carried out attacks on Israeli representations and diplomats in India and Georgia. In Thailand, police also tracked down three conspirators when one of their explosives exploded too soon in their hiding place. While trying to escape, one of the perpetrators attacked a taxi with hand grenades. Then 28-year-old Saeid Moradi lost both legs and his right eye. In addition to him, the police arrested another Iranian, 42-year-old Mohammed Khazaei.

In August 2013, a Thai court sentenced Moradi to life in prison and Khazaei received a 15-year prison sentence. 31-year-old suspect Masud Sedaghatzadeh initially managed to escape, but was arrested in Malaysia and extradited to Thailand three years ago. Many Iranians suspected on social media that the man in the wheelchair was Moradi. The video suggests that “Kylie may have been released in exchange for (among others) Saeid Moradi,” tweeted Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment think tank.

Islamic scholar Moore-Gilbert had specifically studied the politics of the Gulf Emirate of Bahrain and had last taught at the University of Melbourne. In September 2018, she traveled to Iran for a conference in the Shia pilgrimage town of Qom. When she was about to leave the country, she was arrested at the airport. On suspicion of spying, she was sentenced to ten years in prison in a secret trial. The prosecution claimed that Moore-Gilbert had contacts with the British foreign intelligence service MI6 and with Israeli universities. While in detention, he went on hunger strike twice to secure his release.

Iran has arrested several foreigners and people with dual nationalities in recent years, most recently Nahid Taghavi from Cologne. Germany strengthened its travel advice for Iran on Tuesday. Many of the detainees have been swapped for Iranians held overseas this year, but others remain in detention. Sweden urged Tehran on Tuesday not to carry out the death sentence against Iranian-Swedish doctor Ahmed-Reza Jalali. The emergency doctor had been sentenced to death for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel after a confession was extracted from him under torture.