Iran detains 3 Australians on spying accusations

ANKARA

Iranian authorities confirmed Tuesday the arrest of three Australian citizens on espionage accusations.

Spokesperson for the Iranian Judiciary authority, Gholamhossein Esmaili, said two of those detained held Australian and British citizenships while a third held Australian citizenship.

The detainees were identified as a travel-blogging couple, Jolie King and Mark Firkin, and Kylie Moore-Gilbert a lecturer at Melbourne University.

Two are charged with taking pictures of military sites with a drone while the third is being investigated for spying for another country and endangering national security.

Esmaili said two separate investigations are under way.

Last week, British media said Tehran arrested three Australian citizens in two separate cases and later Australian authorities confirmed their arrests without giving further details for privacy reasons.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara