Iran demands US hands over spy mum in prisoner swap for Brit blogger Jolie King thrown in hellhole jail ‘for flying a DRONE’
IRAN is demanding the US hand over a spy-mum in exchange for a Brit travel blogger and her boyfriend who were arrested for flying a DRONE.
Building designer Jolie King was seized with her Australian partner Mark Firkin in July for allegedly flying the gadget without a licence near the capital.
The British-Australian vlogger had been documenting her travels around the world on social media and raising money on crowdfunding site Patreon, but is now caged at the notorious Evin jail, reports.
A woman jailed at the prison has called it a "black hole of evil", with claims of torture and brutality from guards.
Sources said the pair were seized by authorities in July and are being used as bargaining chips for Negar Ghodskani, 40.
The Iranian had been living in Australia before she was arrested for trying to dodge sanctions then extradited to the US.
She admitted conspiracy to evade US sanctions and illegally export controlled technology last month and has had a baby since being locked behind bars.
Iranian authorities told Jolie she was being held in the hope of a prisoner swap, according to The Times.
Iran minister Mohammed Javad Zarif previously said: “We have an Iranian lady in Australia who gave birth in prison after she was arrested on an extradition request from the United States.
“Nobody talks about this lady in Australia whose child is growing up outside prison with his mother in prison.
“I put this offering on the table publicly now. Exchange them.”
Meanwhile, adventurous Jolie and Mark were arrested after quitting their jobs as a building designer and construction manager jobs in Perth, Australia.
The pair were mid-way through an epic drive from Australia to the UK where Jolie's dad Mike King was born and raised in Essex.
They said in blog posts that they wanted to quit the "9-5 grind" and travel the world while visiting supposedly dangerous countries.
The couple wrote online: “Our biggest motivation behind the vlogs is to hopefully inspire anyone wanting to travel.
"And also try to break the stigma around travelling to countries which get a bad rap in the media."
The editor of Persian-language TV channel Manoto TV told The Times "there was a misunderstanding" and the couple were "unaware of the Iranian law which bans drone flights without a licence".
Jolie is locked up in the same wing as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a 41-year-old British-Iranian mum-of one, held at the jail since 2016 on spying charges.
It is claimed they are being used as additional collateral after a proposed swap for Ghodskani and Zaghari-Ratcliffe failed.
A second unnamed British-Australian woman was also arrested in a separate incident.
The woman, an academic, is said to be held in solitary confinement and been sentenced to ten years in jail for an unknown offence, a source told The Times.
Although it isn't known what she was convicted of, foreigners are often jailed for a decade on espionage charges.
Jolie and her boyfriend posted photos of their globe-trotting after leaving Australia in 2017.
They have been driving a Toyota Land Cruiser through countries across Asia, including India, Pakistan and China.
The couple posted a video on June 30 on their first day in Iran.
But pals raised concerns when they stopped hearing updates from Jolie and Mark a few weeks ago.
Jolie said: "We just arrived. It’s actually really beautiful."
It is believed Jolie is the first UK citizen without Iranian passports to be jailed in Iran in recent years.
Prisoners say cells in the prison are filthy, overcrowded and infested with beetles, comparing it to torture chamber.
The Australian government is taking the lead in both cases, with Britain urged to act.
We will not accept Iran using our citizens as diplomatic leverage
Dominic Raab
Boris Johnson is set to confront Iran about the arrested Brits at a UN meeting in New York this month.
In a letter to families of three Brits held in Iran, seen by The Times, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We will not accept Iran using our citizens as diplomatic leverage."
Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said: “The message to Iran is to follow the international rule of law, and to release people that have been detained in the way they have been over the last couple of years.”
It comes amid escalating tensions between Britain and Iran, as Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, claimed a tanker seized in Gibraltar has now delivered its oil to Syria.
Mr Raab said that the Adrian Darya-1's oil was transferred in breach of EU sanctions.
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