Australian travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin have been detained in a notorious prison in Iran for reportedly flying a drone in the capital.

Two Australian bloggers imprisoned in an Iranian jail after reportedly flying a drone without a licence have been freed thanks to an apparent prisoner swap.

Australian authorities have confirmed an Iranian academic wanted in the US has been released from a Queensland prison, AAP is reporting.

News of the release came hours after Perth couple Mark Firkin and Jolie King returned home after three months in an Iranian prison.

Attorney-General Christian Porter on Saturday night confirmed he’d decided the Iranian man shouldn’t be extradited.

Reza Dehbashi Kivi, a 38-year-old cancer researcher, was arrested in September 2018 after US authorities accused him of conspiring to export electronic military devices to Iran.

“I considered that, in all the circumstances of this particular case, Mr Dehbashi Kivi should not ultimately be extradited to the United States,” Mr Porter said in a statement.

“Whilst Mr Dehbashi Kivi was considered by a magistrate to be eligible for surrender to the United States ... it remains the case that my determination as to whether a person should ultimately be surrendered to the country seeking their extradition is made under a different section of that Act.

“Ultimately the Attorney General can and should take into account a considerably broader set of considerations.

“Extradition requests are considered on a case by case basis and in accordance with the requirements of Australian law and two points can be made in general terms about this case.

“First, this is not the first extradition matter in which a person has not ultimately been surrendered by Australia to the country seeking their extradition.

“Second, as a matter of longstanding policy, the Australian Government does not comment on the details behind its consideration of particular cases.”

Queensland Corrective Services confirmed the University of Queensland PhD student was no longer in their custody, but gave no further information.

They have now requested privacy as they seek to “get back to (their) normal lives”.

“We know there are others who remain in detention in Iran, including a fellow Australian, and believe intense media coverage may not be helpful for efforts to bring them home,” they added.

Iranian state media agency IRIB reports Mr Dehbashi Kivi returned to Tehran on Saturday.

Mr Porter said the decision to not extradite the researcher came after considering “all the circumstances of this particular case”.

“While it is likely that because of (his) nationality some will speculate regarding this matter, consistent with prior practice I do not intend to comment further on the particular details of this case, particularly when any such response from me may diminish our government’s capacity to deal with future matters of this type in Australia’s best interests,” he said.

Mr Dehbashi Kivi battled extradition to the US, raising concerns he couldn’t get a fair trial due to prejudice at trial towards Iranians.

“My client is likely to be viewed as a national of an enemy state,” his barrister Pouyan Afshar told a Brisbane court in May.

A barrister acting for Mr Porter on behalf of the US government told the same court the UQ researcher allegedly sought to procure and export parts intended for radar application in the electronic warfare branch of the Iranian government.

“Any person who intended to export those parts was required to obtain a licence.”

‘EXTREMELY HAPPY’ TO BE FREED

The two Australian bloggers who were detained in Iran have spoken about their experience, after being freed from jail.

Jolie King and Mark Firkin released a statement through the Department of Foreign Trade and Affairs, saying they were “extremely happy” to be back in Australia.

They said the last few months they were locked up had been “difficult”.

The couple from Perth also thanked the Australian Government for playing a role in securing their freedom.

They had been documenting their journey from Australia to Britain on social media for the past two years but went silent after posting updates from Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan about three months ago.

Their statement from DFAT read: “We are extremely happy and relieved to be safely back in Australia with those we love.

“While the past few months have been very difficult, we know it has also been tough for those back home who have been worried for us.

“We are grateful for the efforts of the Australian Government in helping secure our release, and we thank our family and friends for their love and support.”

The couple also asked for privacy as they get back to their “normal lives”.

“While we understand the intense public interest, we do not wish to comment further at this time and request the media let us and our families get back to our normal lives,” they said.



“We know there are others who remain in detention in Iran, including a fellow Australian, and believe intense media coverage may not be helpful for efforts to bring them home.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne announced “the ordeal that they have been through is now over”.

Senator Payne added that all criminal charges had been dropped and that the couple had been reunited with their families.

She said they were in “good health and good spirits”.

They were alleged to have used a drone to take pictures of “military sites and forbidden areas”, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said last month.

“The government has worked very hard through diplomatic channels for some time to secure their release as well to ensure they were treated appropriately while detained,” she said.

Senator Payne described the negotiations as “very sensitive” and said the government was also working hard to secure the release of a third Australian, Melbourne University lecturer Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been held in detention in Iran for over a year.

“We are continuing our discussions with the Iranian government. We don’t accept the charges upon which she was convicted and we will seek to have her returned to Australia,” she said.

Moore-Gilbert’s situation was described as being “very complex”.

“She has been detained for some considerable time, and has faced the Iranian legal system and has been convicted and sentenced … we are continuing our discussions with the Iranian government and we do not accept the charges upon which she was convicted and we would seek to have her returned to Australia,” Senator Payne said.

‘NOTORIOUS’ JAIL

King and Firkin had been held in the notorious Evin jail, which is also used to imprison political prisoners.

The couple went missing around three months ago. The travel bloggers from Perth had been locked up for reportedly flying a drone, used to capture footage for their popular videos.

The pair left Perth in July 2017 in a Toyota LandCruiser bound for the UK, planning to travel for two years driving across 36 countries.

“Our biggest motivation behind making the vlogs is to hopefully inspire anyone wanting to travel, and also try to break the stigma around travelling to countries which get a bad wrap (sic) in the media,” they said in a post on crowd-funding platform Patreon.

They were reportedly arrested for flying a drone without a licence, according to Persian-language broadcaster Manato TV on Twitter.

Ms King and Mr Firkin have frequently used a drone in photos and videos published of their travels through Australia, Asia and the Middle East, with nearly 19,000 people following their adventures on their Instagram page.

Ms King and Mr Firkin run a YouTube channel called The Way Overland, however their last video was posted in June this year, about driving through Pakistan.

Their last Instagram update on their shared account was posted on June 26.

“Apart from the massive landscape, countless horses, and a few screaming marmots we felt pretty isolated,” they said from their camp spot in Kyrgyzstan.

“The warm hospitality we received in Pakistan continued to deliver though.”

Concerned friends had posted to their account asking if the couple was OK.