Thailand approves transfer of 3 Iranians as Australian freed

26/11/2020 19:21

        Thai officials said Thursday they approved the transfer back to Tehran of three Iranians who were involved in a botched 2012 bomb plot, as Iran released a 33-year-old Australian academic who was imprisoned for more than two years on spying charges.
        
        Thai officials did not go so far as to call it a prisoner swap or say what involvement Australia might have had in the arrangement. Iranian state TV said Tehran released British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert in exchange for three Iranians held abroad.
        
        Chatchom Akapin, Thailand's deputy attorney general, said that Thai authorities had approved the transfer of the prisoners under an agreement with Iran.
        
        In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was "thrilled and relieved" that Moore-Gilbert had been released but added it would take time for her to process her "horrible" ordeal.