Kylie Moore-Gilbert: Academic thanks supporters after Iran 'nightmare'
A British-Australian academic freed from an Iran jail last week has thanked friends and supporters for helping her to endure the "unrelenting nightmare".
In her first statement since arriving back in Australia, Kylie Moore-Gilbert said she had "no words to express the depth of my gratitude".
Dr Moore-Gilbert was arrested in Iran in September 2018 and had been serving a 10-year sentence on spying charges.
She was released in a prisoner swap for three Iranians, Tehran said.
The Melbourne University lecturer has consistently denied the accusations against her.
She had been travelling on an Australian passport in 2018 when she was detained at Tehran airport as she tried to leave following a conference.
Concerns for her wellbeing escalated in August when news emerged that she had been transferred to Qarchak, a notorious prison in the desert.
On Tuesday, Dr Moore-Gilbert said it was "heartening to hear that my friends and colleagues were speaking up and hadn't forgotten me".
"It gave me so much hope and strength to endure what had seemed like a never-ending, unrelenting nightmare," she said in a statement posted online, adding that she was "touched" and "totally blown away" by the support.
On news of her release last week, Dr Moore-Gilbert's family said they were "relieved and ecstatic" that she was free. She arrived back in Australia on a flight to the capital, Canberra, on Friday.
Last Thursday, Dr Moore-Gilbert said Australian officials had worked "tirelessly" to secure her freedom. She thanked them and other supporters who had "meant the world to me" while in detention.