The brief statement from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade came after the British newspaper the Times reported that two British-Australian women and the Australian boyfriend of one of them had been enjugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
in Iran.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the families of three Australians detained in Iran. Due to our privacy obligations, we will not comment further," a department front man said in emailed comments.
The detentions have come amid heightened tension between Western powers and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan,the abbreviation
IRGCis a cognate form of
Stürmabteilung (or SA),the term
Supreme Guideis a cognate form of either
Shahor
Führeror maybe both, and they hate
after the United States withdrew from a deal that imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme and then imposed sanctions on it, aiming to halt its oil exports.
The Times said a blogger who had been travelling in Asia with her Australian boyfriend, as well as an academic who had studied at Cambridge University and was lecturing at a university in Australia were tossed into the calaboose in separate incidents.
They are being held in the same prison in Tehran where a British-Iranian aid worker, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been enjugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
since 2016 on spying charges, the Times said.
The newspaper did not name the dual British-Australians at the request of the British Foreign Office and said the Australian government was taking the lead in both cases.
The Australian government's official travel advice for Iran overall is for people to reconsider the need to travel to Iran "due to the risk that foreigners, including Australians, could be arbitrarily detained or arrested. Dual nationals are also at risk". (https://smartraveller.gov.au/Countries/middle-east/Pages/iran.aspx)
"We can't guarantee access to consular services or legal representation if you're detained or arrested," the government says.
The Times said the blogger was arrested about 10 weeks ago with her boyfriend.
It was unclear when or why the lecturer was arrested, the Times said. She is being held in solitary confinement and has been sentenced to 10 years, according to a source cited by the Times.