‘I lost a lot’: Former political prisoner Kylie Moore-Gilbert reveals toll of 804 days behind bars in Iran

The British-Australian academic speaks to Rory Sullivan about her ordeal in Tehran’s Evin prison, the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and the plight of other prisoners who are still detained in Iran

Kylie Moore-Gilbert was released from Iranian prison on 26 November 2020 (Kristoffer Paulsen)

Almost a year and a half after leaving Iranian prison, the British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert is still coming to terms with the 804 days she spent behind bars on unsubstantiated espionage charges.

Speaking from her home in Australia, the university lecturer reflected on the horror of being taken as a political hostage by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who, without any evidence to back up their claims, said she was working for foreign governments.

Ms Moore-Gilbert was detained in Iran in September 2018 and handed a 10-year sentence before being released in November 2020 in exchange for three Iranians who had been held abroad.