Australian couple held in Iran for flying drone in Tehran
Globetrotting Aussie couple Mark Firkin and Jolie King, who packed up their lives in NSW in 2015, are being held in Iran’s notorious Evin jail and have become pawns in an international game of hostage diplomacy.
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They were carefree Aussie globe-trotters on the vacation of a lifetime but Mark Firkin and Jolie King’s road trip has now turned into the holiday from hell as they languish in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison.
The couple are feared to have become pawns in an international game of diplomacy after being arrested for flying a drone in the infamously hard-line Islamic Republic.
Mr Firkin, from Coffs Harbour, and Ms King, who has previously worked as a hairdresser in Newcastle, packed up their lives in NSW to move to Perth in 2015 before heading overseas.
They were posting video blogs and drone footage of their trip from Australia to the UK in a converted Toyota LandCruiser to their 19,000 followers when they were taken into custody.
“Our biggest motivation behind making 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 wrap (sic) in the media,” they wrote in a post.
But experts said they were naive and are now caught up in Iran’s tactic of hostage diplomacy, with the regime looking to hit back at the US and its allies after the Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear treaty with Tehran.
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Mr Firkin and Ms King’s YouTube channel, called The Way Overland, fell silent 11 weeks ago, prompting concerned followers to ask if they were safe.
“GUYS WHERE ARE YOU ITS BEEN A MONTH — RU OKAY???” wrote one.
Their last joint Instagram on June 26 followed posts from their time driving across Pakistan, just one of 36 countries the couple intended to cross.
“Apart from the massive landscape, countless horses, and a few screaming marmots we felt pretty isolated,” they said from the spot they had set up camp in Kyrgyzstan. Then they stopped posting.
The families of Mr Firkin and Ms King released a statement on Thursday.
“Our families hope to see Mark and Jolie safely home as soon as possible. We have no further comment to make at this stage and ask that the media respects our privacy at this difficult time,” they said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to the families and those of another Australian detained in Iran.
That third Australian is a British-Australian woman, an academic, who is in also being held in solitary confinement, also in Evin Prison. Another dual Australian-Iranian citizen, Melbourne University demographer Meimanat Hosseini-Chavoshi, was arrested in December.
Persian-language broadcaster Manato TV said on Twitter that the young Australian couple had been arrested for flying a drone without a licence.
It is believed Ms King and Mr Firkin were camping in a an area around Jajrood, a military area near the capital of Tehran.
“The family says this was a misunderstanding and Jolie King and her fiance, Mark Firkin, were unaware of the Iranian law which bans drone flights without a licence,” the editor of Manoto said.
But academic Shahram Akbarzadeh, Deakin University professor of Middle East politics, said the couple had been foolhardy. “Iran authorities see a threat in every corner,” he said.
“What might seem like a very benign and ordinary thing to do … can turn into something very sinister in Iran. Let’s hope there’s nothing suspicious on those videos. Dealing with Iran is so arbitrary and unpredictable. It is a helpless scenario, unfortunately.”
Foreign Minister Marise Payne denied suggestions the arrests were due to the geopolitical climate or Australia’s joining of the US-led international mission to ensure maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have no reason to think these arrests are connected to international concern over Iran’s nuclear program, UN sanctions or sanctions enforcement or maritime security,” she said.
But Middle East experts believed the Australians have been caught up in a diplomatic game of hostage diplomacy. The Times of London quoted a source familiar with Mr Firkin and Ms King’s case saying that Ms King had been told by Iranian authorities she had been held as part of a plan to facilitate a prisoner swap.
Ms Payne said she had met with her Iranian counterpart several times to press for their release, as recently as last week.
“The government has been making efforts to ensure they are treated fairly, humanely and in accordance with international norms,” she told parliament.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “We will continue to pursue these matters in the interests of the Australians at the centre of these cases and we will do that carefully and we will do that in close consultation through our officials … I will act in the best interests of those citizens.”
Jan Nel, manager of Quick Pitch in Perth, helped the couple modify their vehicle and has been in contact with them since they left.
“They were very adventurous, adventure-driven. That’s pretty much what this whole thing was about. They had absolute passion for it,” he said.
