A British-Australian woman and her Australian boyfriend have been freed from detention in Iran.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said it was “with some enormous relief” that she could announce Jolie King and Mark Firkin “have been released and returned” and all charges against them were dropped.
Ms Payne, however, confirmed that another British-Australian, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, is still in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, where she has been for almost a year, having reportedly been handed a 10-year sentence.
“Very long-term negotiations” were taking place to secure the release of the Cambridge-educated academic, Ms Payne added.
Dr Moore-Gilbert was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University.
Earlier, it was reported that the Islamic Republic’s judiciary spokesman had confirmed that all three were detained for spying.
Ms King and Mr Firkin had been posting updates on their trip across Asia on social media before being arrested. They were accused of using a drone to take videos of military areas and other unauthorised zones.
Ms Payne said that, following their release, they were in “good health and in good spirits” after being reuinted with their families.
Evin prison also houses 41-year-old Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian mother of one who is midway through a five-year sentence on spying charges which began in 2016.
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe