Iran detained prisoner due to Israeli partner: report

One of Iran's most high-profile Western prisoners was detained because her partner was an Israeli citizen, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian academic from the University of Melbourne, was freed on Thursday in a prisoner swap deal between Australia and Iran which took over six months to negotiate.

She had been detained by Iran in 2018 on espionage charges, and sentenced to ten years in prison.

Both Australia and Moore-Gilbert have rejected the allegations that she was working as a spy for Israel.

Moore-Gilbert was released in exchange for three Iranians who had been detained abroad, according to Iran's state broadcaster.

The Sydney Morning Herald also reported that the deal involved high-level negotiations with the government of Thailand.

Thai authorities disclosed that three Iranians arrested for a failed bomb plot in 2012 had been flown back home.

Australia's foreign affairs ministry declined to comment on Friday's report citing privacy reasons for Moore-Gilbert and her family, while the Israeli Embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment.