Australian lecturer jailed in Iran says she rejected Tehran spy offer

Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert held in an Iranian prison says she rejected an offer to become a spy in exchange for her release, British media reported on Tuesday.

A Melbourne University lecturer in Islamic Studies, she made the comments in handwritten letters addressed to Iranian authorities and smuggled out of Tehran's notorious Evin prison and published in the British Guardian and Times of London newspapers.

The U.S.-based Center for Human Rights in Iran also published excerpts from the series of letters on the same day.

In a letter addressed to her "case manager," Moore-Gilbert writes that the missive should be taken as "an official and definitive rejection of your offer to me to work with the intelligence branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps."

"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."

"When I leave Iran, I want to be a free woman and live a free life, not under the shadow of extortion and threats," the letter added.

Moore-Gilbert has been held in Evin prison since 2018 and was handed a ten-year sentence for what Iranian authorities say are espionage charges.

In December, she appealed to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take action to secure her release in another letter.

"It is unacceptable to hold an Australian hostage like this," Elaine Pearson, the Australia director for Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Pearson's message also appealed to Australia's government to privately and publicly call for the academic's release and to address violations of due process and a lack of consular access with Tehran's ambassador in Australia.    (dpa)