- Iran detained two Australian travel bloggers, Jolie King and Mark Firkin, in early July.
- They were sent to the notorious high-security Evin Prison, reportedly over flying a drone without a license.
- Australia's foreign minister confirmed their release and return home on Saturday, adding that the two Australians are "in good health and in good spirits."
- However, another Australian citizen detained in the country remains in jail.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Iran has released and dropped all charges against two Australian travel bloggers who had been detained for three months in a notorious high-security prison, the Australian government announced Saturday.
Jolie King and her boyfriend, Mark Firkin, were sent to Tehran's Evin Prison in early July, reportedly for flying a drone without a license.
Evin Prison is home to many foreign nationals as well as Iranian dissidents, and is said to have horrific conditions.
Marise Payne, the Australian foreign minister, announced the couple's release and return home in a Saturday press conference.
"The Iranian Government has released Australian couple Jolie King and Mark Firkin from custody and has dropped the charges against them," Payne said. "For Jolie and for Mark the ordeal that they have been through is now over. They are being united with their loved ones which is a source of great relief and joy to everyone."
The couple are "in good health and in good spirits," and their families are "enormously relieved" to have them back.
Payne said the Australian government "worked very hard" through discreet diplomatic channels to secure King and Firkin's release, as well as to "ensure they were treated appropriately" while still detained.
Those discussions involved "senior levels of government across both countries," including Payne herself and her counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, she said.
King and Firkin had been in the middle of a road trip from their hometown in Australia to London, and had posted about their experiences on Instagram and YouTube.
They had been trying to "break the stigma around travelling to countries which get a bad wrap in the media," according to their Patreon crowdfunding page.
However, another Australian citizen — a Middle Eastern studies lecturer named Kylie Moore-Gilbert — remains imprisoned in Iran.
Negotiations for Moore-Gilbert's release are "ongoing," Payne said, noting that the academic had been "detained for some considerable time and has faced the Iranian legal system and has been convicted and sentenced."
Payne didn't mention Moore-Gilbert's charges, but said the Australian government does "accept the charges upon which she was convicted" and are seeking her return home.
The Australian government continues to warn citizens against traveling to Iran.
Join the conversation about this story »