Iran releases Australian blogger couple from detention

(Patria) – Australian blogger couple Jolie King and Mark Firkin have been released after spending three months in detention in Iran.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Saturday that she confirms their release and return to the country 'with immense relief'.

She also revealed that the Australian government had conducted 'very sensitive' negotiations with Iran regarding their release, and ensured they were properly treated while in detention.

All charges of espionage against the blogger couple have been dropped.

As a reminder, King and Firkin left their native Australia in 2017 and embarked on a long journey that they documented through their blog 'The Way Overland'. Three months ago, they were arrested near Tehran for allegedly launching a drone near military facilities in Jajrood.

Iran permits the use of drones but with a permit and under strict conditions, such as a ban on flying over people or large crowds, over Tehran and other sensitive areas. Using a drone without a permit is punishable by 6 months in prison followed by deportation.

Minister Payne confirmed to the media that Australian citizen of British origin, academic Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, is still in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, where she has been held for a year.

Before her arrest in Iran, Dr. Moore-Gilbert also worked as a lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne.

Payne described her situation as 'very complex' and explained that negotiations have been ongoing for a long time and that the Australian government does not accept the espionage charges for which she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In the same prison where Iran's political prisoners serve their sentences is also 41-year-old Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British woman of Iranian origin, a mother of one, who has served half of her five-year prison sentence for espionage charges, writes the British Guardian.