Australian citizen imprisoned in Iran: I rejected the IRGC's offer to spy in exchange for reduced prison sentence

The Guardian newspaper published a report on Monday, January 20, stating that Kylie Moore Gilbert, an Australian university professor imprisoned in Iran, had stated in letters that the Revolutionary Guard had offered her "spying" in exchange for "a reduction in her prison sentence."

According to this report, Kylie Moore Gilbert rejected the offer of espionage from the Revolutionary Guards, and this is evidenced by these letters, which were "smuggled" out of Evin Prison.

Kylie Moore Gilbert, who specializes in Middle East and Gulf affairs, was one of three Australian citizens recently arrested in Iran, and her arrest was announced by the Iranian judiciary spokesman on charges of "security and espionage."

In the handwritten letters, seen by The Guardian, Ms Gilbert claims her “detention has been politicised”. The newspaper said she is being held in Ward 2A of Evin prison under the watchful eye of the Revolutionary Guards, and the Australian said she was shown two sentences last year, one for 13 months in prison followed by possible release and the other confirming a 10-year sentence.

Ms. Gilbert wrote in the letters that she "has little money to buy food, is denied phone calls to her family, and that her physical and mental condition is poor, which has led to her being hospitalized multiple times."

According to the Guardian, the imprisoned university professor in Iran wrote to his “case manager”: “I definitely reject your offer to work for the IRGC’s intelligence department… I am not a spy, I have never been a spy, and I have no interest in working for any country’s intelligence agency.”

Also, in one of the letters, dated last summer, Ms. Gilbert "begged" that prison officials transfer her from Ward 2A, which is under the supervision of the IRGC, to the general women's ward.

Not long ago, Kylie Moore Gilbert went on a hunger strike in response to the court's decision to reject her appeal against a 10-year prison sentence.

The United States Department of State has repeatedly condemned the Islamic Republic's regime's arbitrary and unjustified detention of American and other citizens, including dual-national Iranians, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

Source: Voice of America