A British-Australian woman being held in an Iranian jail has been named as a Melbourne academic who published books on the 2011 Arab uprisings and authoritarian governments.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the third person revealed this week to be detained in Iran, has been held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for nearly a year after reportedly being given a 10-year sentence.

The Cambridge-educated academic, who specialises in Middle Eastern politics, lectures in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University.

It has not been publicly revealed what she is charged with but 10-year sentences are often handed out for spying.

Earlier this week, the Australian government said two other people - named as British-Australian Jolie King and her boyfriend Mark Firkin - were also being held in Iran.


Image: Jolie King (British-Australian) and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin have been detained

The couple were blogging their travels across 36 countries when they were arrested for allegedly flying a drone without a licence in an unrelated incident.

They have been in prison for 10 weeks.

Travel blog of woman detained in Iran

The family of Dr Moore-Gilbert released a statement saying they were in "close contact" with the Australian government, adding: "We believe that the best chance of securing Kylie's safe return is through diplomatic channels."

The Australian government has said it is lobbying Tehran to ensure the wellbeing of the three detainees.

Foreign minister Marise Payne said the cases were a "matter of deep concern" and insisted she had spoken about them a number of times to her Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.

She did not believe the arrests were politically motivated, despite reports the trio were being held as part of a plan to facilitate a prisoner swap with Australia.

"We have no reason to think that these arrests are connected to international concern over Iran's nuclear programme, United Nations sanction enforcement or maritime security concerning the safety of civilian shipping," Senator Payne said.

News of the three detainees comes as relations have soured between Britain and Iran.

The recent friction was sparked when British forces helped to seize an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar which they believed was carrying oil to President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

In response, Iran seized the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz.

Image: Iranian Revolutionary Guards patrolling around the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero

Although the Iranian tanker has since been released, the Stena Impero is still being held by Iran.

The UK is still seeking the release of British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held on spying charges in Evin prison since 2016.