Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it is holding three Australian nationals, including two with joint British nationality, on suspicion of spying.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili as saying the three had been charged in two separate cases.
He said two people, British-Australian blogger Jolie King and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin, had been detained for using a drone to take pictures and video of military areas and other unauthorised zones.
Ms King and Mr Firkin had been sharing their travel adventures with thousands on their YouTube and Instagram blog The Way Overland.
Esmaili said the third, believed to be Cambridge-educated academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert from the University of Melbourne, faces charges of spying for another country.
Dr Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer and researcher specialising in Middle East politics, has reportedly been sentenced to a 10-year jail term at Tehran’s Evin prison.
Iran holds its political prisoners at the site, which has a notorious reputation for human rights abuses from horrific cell conditions to reports of summary executions.
Read the report and watch the video from Channel 9 News.