A Judiciary official has said that jailed Australian-British citizen Kylie Moore-Gilbert whose health and circumstances at the notorious Qarchak Prison has caused serious concerns will be visited by the Australian ambassador to Tehran on Sunday.
In a tweet on Wednesday Mehdi Keshtdar, the managing director of the Judiciary's Mizan News Agency, said Moore-Gilbert is "in good health". "By a Judicial order, the individual sentenced for espionage will be meeting with the Australian ambassador," Keshtdar wrote.
News of Moore-Gilbert's transfer from Evin Prison to Qarchak "as punishment" for purportedly not "cooperating" with prison authorities were made public on Monday by prominent lawyer and rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh who is herself serving a 38-year sentence at Evin.
Moore-Gilbert is one of several foreign nationals and dual-citizens jailed in Iran on charges of spying. Many believe Iran has taken them hostage to use as bargaining chips in its relations with world powers.
Despite many pleas, the Judiciary has refused to allow these detainees to benefit from furlough in view of being in danger of catching COVID-19 in prison.
The only high-profile dual-citizen who has been allowed to go on furlough is Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff, a 40-year-old British citizen. Ms. Zaghari who is required to wear an ankle bracelet while on furlough, has been serving a prison term since her arrest in 2016 on alleged spying charges.
Iran also released Kamal Foroughi an 80-year-old British-Iranian business consultant on April 1 and allowed him to go home nine years after being arrested on spying charges.
Other dual-citizens including U.S. citizens Morad Tahbaz, Siamak Namazi, British citizen Anoush Ashouri, and French National Fariba Adelkhah are among the high-profile dual-nationals serving prison terms on similar charges who have been denied furlough despite the coronavirus epidemic.
Dr. Moore-Gilbert, is a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Melbourne. She was in Iran to take part in a university program on Islam for foreign academics. During her stay she conducted some interviews and one of her academic colleagues on this program who she also interviewed flagged her as "suspicious" to the Revolutionary Guard leading to her arrest in early 2019.
