Iran swaps jailed Australian academic for three citizens: Report

According to Iran's state media, authorities on Wednesday exchanged a jailed British-Australian academic, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, with three Iranians who were detained abroad.

Moore-Gilbert who was serving a 10-year sentence for espionage was swapped for an Iranian businessman and two Iranian citizens, Iran's TV channel reported.

Reports said the Iranians were detained for trying to circumvent US sanctions reimposed in 2018 after the Trump administration exited the nuclear deal.

Moore-Gilbert was a lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne and was reportedly detained last year. 

However, according to British media reports, Moore-Gilbert was arrested at Tehran airport by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC) in September 2018.

Moore-Gilbert stridently denied spying charges. Reports indicated that Moore-Gilbert was shifted to Iran's notorious Evin prison as Australian authorities began efforts to track her.

Iran has arrested several foreign nationals over spying charges including French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, who was detained in June last year and two Australians, travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin who were later released in October 2019 in a swap for Iranian student Reza Dehbashi.