British-Australian lecturer Kylie Moore-Gilbert, jailed in Iran for spying since 2018, has now been transferred to Tehran’s Qarchak women’s prison from the Evin Prison, reported a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker who in 2016 was imprisoned in Iran over spying charges, stated that Qarchak was a prison where “authorities sent women political prisoners when they wanted to break them”.
“It’s in the middle of the desert with no clean running water, very poor food with the bread and rice drugged, and gang-ridden, so you can wait months to get a bed,” Ratcliffe added.
Kylie was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of espionage by Iranian authorities.
“Dr. Moore-Gilbert’s case is one of the Australian Government’s highest priorities, including for our Embassy officials in Tehran,” the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday.
“We are urgently seeking further consular access to her at this new location. We hold Iran responsible for Dr. Moore-Gilbert’s safety and well-being.” The spokesperson added.
Kylie has denied all the charges against her.
Kylie, a specialist in Middle East politics at the University of Melbourne, was in Iran to commence a course in the city of Qom, according to ABC.
The detention of the British-Australian lecturer came amid rising tensions between Western countries and Iran after the United States slapped sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, which aimed to stop Iran’s oil exports.