British-Australian academic says Iran tried to recruit her as spy

Sydney - Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested in 2018 after attending an academic conference in Iran

A British-Australian academic who spent two years imprisoned in Iran has claimed Tehran tried to recruit her as a spy in exchange for her freedom.

In her first media interview since returning to Australia last November, Middle East scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert said Iranian officials asked her “many times” to work as a spy.

She was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in jail for espionage, an allegation she has denied.

“I knew that the reason that they didn’t engage in any meaningful negotiations with the Australians was because they wanted to recruit me. They wanted me (to work) for them as a spy,” she told Sky News Australia on Tuesday.

Moore-Gilbert also said she was beaten during her detention and suffered “psychological torture” from spending seven months in solitary confinement.

“It is so damaging. I would say I felt physical pain from the psychological trauma I had in that room,” she said.

“It is a two-by-two metre box — there is no toilet, there is no television, there is nothing whatsoever.”

She said at times she “felt broken” by the experience of prison and had suicidal thoughts.

“I felt if I have to endure another day of this — if I could I would just kill myself. But of course, I never tried and I never took that step,” she said.