Citing Iranian journalists, Newsru writes that Kaylee Moore-Gilbert's husband was an employee of the General Security Service.
It is also reported that Moore-Gilbert's father was Jewish, and she herself underwent conversion (conversion to Judaism) in Great Britain in 2007, after He began to visit Israel frequently. There she learned Hebrew, where she met her future husband, and was also recruited by the Israeli special services.
The publications also state that she studied at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya at the Institute for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv.
It also clarifies that the Mossad curators persuaded Kaylee Moore-Gilbert to change the direction of research. So, instead of tracking Iranian activity in Syria, she focused on the Shiite opposition in Bahrain, and later took a special training course, including the study of the Persian language. In addition, she was trained to work with encryption equipment. After that, through Bahrain, she was thrown into Iran.
It is also noted that Moore-Gilbert attracted the attention of the Iranian special services, as she repeatedly tried to organize a meeting with the head of the Shiite opposition of Bahrain, who lives in Iran.
Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer in the Middle East Department at the University of Melbourne, was arrested at Tehran International Airport in 2018 after attending a scientific conference. She was charged with espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison. She spent over 800 days in prison. She denied the accusations against her and went on hunger strike several times.
She was released from an Iranian prison as part of a "prisoner" exchange deal. She was traded for three Iranian citizens arrested in Thailand on suspicion of involvement in the 2012 terrorist attack.
Recall that on November 27, the Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in a terrorist attack using weapons controlled by satellites. He and his wife were on their way from Rostamkol, accompanied by three security vehicles. One of the cars moved forward to check the road. Then several bullets hit the car. When the scientist, believing that the car had broken down, got out of it, he received several fatal gunshot wounds. After the incident, the Iranian Ministry of Defense gave the order to strike at the Israeli capital Tel Aviv, considering the country involved in the attack. Ballistic missiles were put on alert in the country.
Vladimir Sidorov, a member of the Maria Lazareva Rescue Committee, commented on the situation with Kaylee Moore-Gilbert's release for Novye Izvestia:
- The release of unjustly convicted foreign citizens or those who have been imprisoned as a result of cunning political combinations is the task of the state, which has a wide range of instruments of both legal pressure and multilateral relations, the implementation of which allows people to be released. We know a lot about the exchange of spies, which were carried out, as a rule, with the participation of third countries, or at least on their territory. We can only applaud the decisive and creative action of the Australian Government, which, through a non-linear combination, resulted in the release of Kaylee Moore-Gilbert. At the same time, the interests of Iran were satisfied, which entrusted its citizens as a result of such an exchange.
I can't even imagine what it cost and what was the negotiating position of the Australians to persuade Thailand to hand over the Iranians, whose participation in the preparation of the terrorist attack was proven in court... This is a huge victory for diplomacy and negotiators!
Unfortunately, in a number of cases the solution to the issue is not in the sphere of justice, and we have to use political and diplomatic measures to protect the interests of our citizens. Russia also very creatively defends the interests of its citizens who are in trouble abroad, keeps many cases in the sphere of constant attention and pressure. A number of high-profile releases, including Maria Butina, of our sailors, and less-known cases of the withdrawal of citizens from persecution abroad give reason to believe that it is possible that in the case of Maria Lazareva, who is still in Kuwait, schemes involving third countries will be applied, which would take into account interests of all parties. I believe that work in this direction is being carried out, and soon our citizen will be able to return to her homeland.