SYDNEY: An Australian-British academic has been freed in Iran after more than two years in jail for spying and said Thursday her release — part of a swap for three Iranians — had ended a "long and traumatic ordeal".
After more than 800 days imprisoned on spying charges, Middle East scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert said departing Iran would be "bittersweet" despite the "injustices" she had endured.
"I came to Iran as a friend and with friendly intentions," she said in a statement distributed by the Australian government while praising "warm-hearted, generous and brave" Iranians.
The first images of a freed Moore-Gilbert emerged from Iranian state television late Wednesday, sparking elation from friends and family who had campaigned hard against her 10-year sentence and adamantly protested her innocence.
"We are relieved and ecstatic," the family said in a statement. "We cannot convey the overwhelming happiness that each of us feel at this incredible news."
In footage broadcast by Iran's Iribnews from Tehran airport, Moore-Gilbert was seen wearing a headscarf and a Covid facemask, accompanied by the Australian ambassador.
Seemingly aware of the camera, she removed the mask, helping to confirm her identity, before being seen getting into a white van.
Australian Prime Minister Morrison said he had spoken to Moore-Gilbert, describing her tone of voice as "very uplifting", but said she was still processing her release.
"She's an extraordinary, strong, courageous and intelligent person to be able to get through this awful ordeal," he told Channel 9, adding she would receive debriefings, health and psychological support on her return to Australia.
"It'll be quite an adjustment when she gets home."
Friends told AFP they were "over the moon" at the news and in a joint statement said: "today is a very bright day".
There was no immediate confirmation of the identity of the three Iranians who were part of the reported prisoner swap, or where they came from.
Iran's state Iribnews reported "a businessman and two (other) Iranian citizens detained abroad on the basis of false accusations were freed in exchange for a spy with dual nationality working for" Israel, identifying Moore-Gilbert by name.
The outlet showed video of three unidentified men - one of them in a wheelchair - draped in Iranian flags and being met by officials including Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Moore-Gilbert's arrest was confirmed by Iran in September 2019.
But it is believed that the lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne was arrested at Tehran airport by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a year earlier after attending an academic conference in the city of Qom, in central Iran.
According to letters smuggled out of prison, Moore-Gilbert, who is in her early 30s, had rejected Tehran's offer to work as a spy.
She wrote that the first 10 months she spent in a wing of Tehran's notorious Evin prison run by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had "gravely damaged" her mental health.
"I am not a spy. I have never been a spy and I have no interest to work for a spying organisation in any country."
She said she had been shown two different decisions to her appeal — one for a 13-month sentence, another confirming the original sentence of 10 years.
"I am still denied phone calls and visitations, and I am afraid that my mental and emotional state may further deteriorate if I remain in this extremely restrictive detention ward," she wrote.
She was eventually transferred to the general women's section of Evin prison, where British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held until being granted temporary leave due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband said she was "really happy" when he told her about Moore-Gilbert's release.
"I don't know what it means for us, it's definitely a good thing for Kylie and it's definitely a good thing for all of us that deals are being done," Richard Ratcliffe said.
Throughout Moore-Gilbert's internment, friends and family had become increasingly critical of what they said was Australia's diplomatic approach.
Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said the release followed "determined work" and described the case as "complex and sensitive".
Iran, which has tense relations with the West, has over the years arrested several foreign nationals, most often on accusations of spying.
They include French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, who was detained in the Islamic republic in June 2019.
Two other Australians, travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin, were released in October 2019, in another apparent swap.
The US State Department welcomed Moore-Gilbert's release but said "she should never have been imprisoned".
"The Iranian regime continues to engage in hostage diplomacy, and we caution all Americans from travelling to Iran as it seeks to gain further leverage," a spokesperson said.
British-Australian academic freed in Iran prisoner swap hails end of ‘traumatic ordeal’
https://arab.news/rq7b9
British-Australian academic freed in Iran prisoner swap hails end of ‘traumatic ordeal’
- “I came to Iran as a friend and with friendly intentions and depart Iran with those sentiments not only still intact, but strengthened,” Moore-Gilbert said
- According to letters smuggled out of prison, she had rejected Tehran's offer to work as a spy
Hamas says ‘new’ Israeli conditions delaying agreement on Gaza ceasefire
- “Occupation has set new conditions concerning withdrawal (of troops), the ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of displaced people,” Hamas said
JERUSALEM: Hamas accused Israel on Wednesday of imposing “new conditions” that it said were delaying a ceasefire agreement in the war in Gaza, though it acknowledged negotiations were still ongoing.
Israel has made no public statement about any new conditions in its efforts to secure the release of hostages seized on October 7, 2023.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have taken place in Doha in recent days, rekindling hope for a truce deal that has proven elusive.
“The ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations are continuing in Doha under the mediation of Qatar and Egypt in a serious manner... but the occupation has set new conditions concerning withdrawal (of troops), the ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of displaced people, which has delayed reaching an agreement,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
Hamas did not elaborate on the conditions imposed by Israel.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament that there was “some progress” in the talks, and on Tuesday his office said Israeli representatives had returned from Qatar after “significant negotiations.”
Last week, Hamas and two other Palestinian militant groups — Islamic Jihad and the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — said in a rare joint statement that a ceasefire agreement was “closer than ever,” provided Israel did not impose new conditions.
Efforts to strike a truce and hostage release deal have repeatedly failed over key stumbling blocks.
Despite numerous rounds of indirect talks, Israel and Hamas have agreed just one truce, which lasted for a week at the end of 2023.
Negotiations have faced multiple challenges since then, with the primary point of disagreement being the establishment of a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
Another unresolved issue is the governance of post-war Gaza.
It remains a highly contentious issue, including within the Palestinian leadership.
Israel has said repeatedly that it will not allow Hamas to run the territory ever again.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Netanyahu said: “I’m not going to agree to end the war before we remove Hamas.”
He added Israel is “not going to leave them in power in Gaza, 30 miles from Tel Aviv. It’s not going to happen.”
Netanyahu has also repeatedly stated that he does not want to withdraw Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land cleared and controlled by Israel along Gaza’s border with Egypt.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, during which militants seized 251 hostages.
Ninety-six of them are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.
The attack resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 45,361 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria’s largest export during the country’s more than 13-year civil war
- Stimulant has flooded the black market across the region in recent years
DAMASCUS: Syria’s new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar Assad.
Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria’s largest export during the country’s more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.
“We found a large quantity of captagon, around one million pills,” said a balaclava-wearing member of the security forces, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Osama, and whose khaki uniform bore a “public security” patch.
An AFP journalist saw forces pour fuel over and set fire to a cache of cannabis, the painkiller tramadol, and around 50 bags of pink and yellow captagon pills in a security compound formerly belonging to Assad’s forces in the capital’s Kafr Sousa district.
Captagon has flooded the black market across the region in recent years.
“The security forces of the new government discovered a drug warehouse as they were inspecting the security quarter,” said another member of the security forces, who identified himself as Hamza.
Authorities destroyed the stocks of alcohol, cannabis, captagon and hashish in order to “protect Syrian society” and “cut off smuggling routes used by Assad family businesses,” he added.
Syria’s new rulers have yet to spell out their policy on alcohol, which has long been widely available in the country.
Since a militant alliance toppled Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, Syria’s new authorities have said massive quantities of captagon have been found in former government sites around the country, including security branches.
AFP journalists in Syria have seen fighters from Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) set fire to what they said were stashes of captagon found at facilities once operated by Assad’s forces.
Security force member Hamza confirmed Wednesday that “this is not the first initiative of its kind — the security services, in a number of locations, have found other warehouses... and drug manufacturing sites and destroyed them in the appropriate manner.”
Maher Assad, a military commander and the brother of Bashar Assad, is widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.
Experts believe Syria’s former leader used the threat of drug-fueled unrest to put pressure on Arab governments.
Jordan in recent years has cracked down on the smuggling of weapons and drugs including captagon along its 375-kilometer (230-mile) border with Syria.
UK to host Israel-Palestine peace summit
- PM Starmer drawing on experience working on Northern Ireland peace process
- G7 fund to unlock financing for reconciliation projects
LONDON: The UK will host an international summit early next year aimed at bringing long-term peace to Israel and Palestine, The Independent reported.
The event will launch the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, which is backed by the Alliance for Middle East Peace, containing more than 160 organizations engaged in peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who worked on the Northern Ireland peace process, ordered Foreign Secretary David Lammy to begin work on hosting the summit.
The fund being unlocked alongside the summit pools money from G7 countries to build “an environment conducive to peacemaking.” The US opened the fund with a $250 million donation in 2020.
As part of peacebuilding efforts, the fund supports projects “to help build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians and for a sustainable two-state solution.”
It also supports reconciliation between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel, as well as the development of the Palestinian private sector in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Young Israelis and Palestinians will meet and work together during internships in G7 countries as part of the scheme.
Former Labour Shadow Middle East Minister Wayne David and ex-Conservative Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said the fund is vital in bringing an end to the conflict.
In a joint piece for The Independent, they said: “The prime minister’s pledge reflects growing global momentum to support peacebuilding efforts from the ground up, ensuring that the voices of those who have long worked for equality, security and dignity for all are not only heard, but are actively shaping the societal and political conditions that real conflict resolution will require.
“Starmer’s announcement that the foreign secretary will host an inaugural meeting in London to support peacebuilders is a vital first step … This meeting will help to solidify the UK’s role as a leader in shaping the future of the region.”
The fund is modeled on the International Fund for Ireland, which spurred peacebuilding efforts in the lead-up to the 1999 Good Friday Agreement. Starmer is drawing inspiration from his work in Northern Ireland to shape the scheme.
He served as human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board from 2003-2007, monitoring the service’s compliance with human rights law introduced through the Good Friday Agreement.
David and Burt said the UK is “a natural convener” for the new scheme, adding: “That role is needed now more than ever.”
They said: “The British government is in a good position to do this for three reasons: Firstly, the very public reaching out to diplomatic partners, and joint ministerial visits, emphasises the government turning a page on its key relationships.
“Secondly, Britain retains a significant influence in the Middle East, often bridging across those who may have differences with each other. And, thirdly, there is the experience of Northern Ireland.
“Because of his personal and professional engagement with Northern Ireland, Keir Starmer is fully aware of the important role civil society has played in helping to lay the foundations for peace.”
Erdogan announces plans to open Turkish consulate in Aleppo
- Erdogan also issued a stern warning to Kurdish militants in Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday that Turkiye will soon open a consulate in Syria's Aleppo.
Erdogan also issued a stern warning to Kurdish militants in Syria, stating they must either "lay down their weapons or be buried in Syrian lands with their weapons."
The remarks underscore Turkiye's firm stance on combating Kurdish groups it views as a threat to its national security.
Turkish military kills 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq, ministry says
- Turkiye regards the YPG, the leading force within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the PKK and similarly classifies it as a terrorist group
ANKARA: The Turkish military killed 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq, the defense ministry said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ministry reported that 20 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Syrian Kurdish YPG militants, who were preparing to launch an attack, were killed in northern Syria, while one militant was killed in northern Iraq.
“Our operations will continue effectively and resolutely,” the ministry added.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the European Union, and the United States, began its armed insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
Turkiye regards the YPG, the leading force within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the PKK and similarly classifies it as a terrorist group.
Following the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this month, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the YPG must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria’s future.
The operations on Wednesday come amid ongoing hostilities in northeastern Syria between Turkiye-backed Syrian factions and the YPG.
Ankara routinely conducts cross-border airstrikes and military operations targeting the PKK, which maintains bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq.
