Three men linked to a botched 2012 bomb plot in Bangkok have been released by Thai authorities in exchange for Australian-British academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been detained in Iran for more than two years.
The Cambridge University-educated 33-year-old, who was freed on Thursday morning, was picked up at Tehran airport while leaving the country after attending an academic conference in 2018.
Dr Moore-Gilbert, who most recently worked as a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Melbourne, was sent to Tehran's Evin prison, convicted of spying and sentenced to 10 years behind bars. She vehemently denied the charges and maintained her innocence.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who described Dr Moore-Gilbert's release as a "miracle" on breakfast television on Thursday morning, said negotiations to garner her release were not straightforward.
"[We've had] a few false starts on this in the past but we have got there now," he told reporters via a virtual press conference.
"Particularly over the course of the last few days, we saw how these events were unfolding and we kept up the hope, we kept up the prayers as well."
Mr Morrison did not speak to directly to the prisoners who were released in exchange for Dr Moore-Gilbert, who The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald understand to be three terrorists linked to a botched bomb plot in Bangkok in 2012 that authorities say was intended to target Israeli diplomats.
Diplomatic sources earlier confirmed Saeed Moradi, Mohammad Khazaei and Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh were released by Thai authorities as part of the deal.
"If other people have been released in other places, they are the decisions of the sovereign governments," Mr Morrison said. "There are no people who have been held in Australia who have been released."
Mr Morrison said the reason he would not explicitly speak about the details of the prisoner swap agreement was to ensure the safety of any other Australians detained overseas.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne during a virtual press conference about Kylie Moore-Gilbert's release seen from the Blue Room at Parliament House.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"They are clear guardrails for Australia in how we manage matters and this is important for other Australians who can find themselves in difficult situations," he said.
He refuted the suggestion that making prisoner swap deals encouraged states to take hostages, saying the Australian government would do what was required to secure the release of its detained citizens.
"We live in an uncertain world and we live in a world where there are regimes that don't act in relation to people's liberties and rights and with the freedoms that we enjoy here in Australia," he said. "That is just a sad reality of the world which we live in and Australia has to deal in that world."
Foreign Minister Marise Payne also would not be publicly drawn on details of how the deal was struck.
"I'm not going to comment on diplomatic discussions with other governments," she said.
She said the government was not shifting its stance on Iran in light of the academic's release.
"We have consistently rejected the grounds on which the government of Iran arrested and detained Dr Moore-Gilbert and we continue to do so," she said.
Senator Payne said Dr Moore-Gilbert was "healthy and in good spirits" and would go into two-week mandatory quarantine when she arrived in Australia.
[We've had] a few false starts on this in the past but we have got there now.
PM Scott Morrison
"I am not able to disclose the location of her quarantine nor any other private details. We would all understand that Dr Moore-Gilbert has adjustments to make, some plans to consider, so this will be a period of privacy and one expects, decompression," she said.
She also warned Australians against any travel to Iran, warning of the risk of arbitrary arrests.
"We advise do not travel to Iran and particularly at this point in time due to the COVID-19 outbreak that is common across our formal travel advice, but we also add that the security situation remains volatile and there is a high risk that you could be arbitrarily detained or arrested."
Dr Moore-Gilbert paid tribute to the Australian diplomats who worked to secure her release and thanked the "warm-hearted, generous and brave" Iranian people and "the great nation of Iran".
Her family said they were "ecstatic" over the news, which comes after she spent more than 800 days in custody, lauding Mr Morrison, the ambassador to Iran and Senator Payne.
Anthony is foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Rachael Dexter is a breaking news reporter at The Age.
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2020-11-25 23:46:00Z
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