Australia rejects US plea for extradition of Iranian student

Australia has rejected a US extradition request for an Iranian student who had been accused of conspiring to smuggle electronic military devices to his homeland.

"I considered that, in all the circumstances of this particular case, Mr Dehbashi Kivi should not ultimately be extradited to the United States," Attorney-General Christian Porter said in a statement late Saturday (Oct 5), the same day that Iran released two Australian students accused of spying in that country.

Mr Porter's office declined to comment on whether there had been a prisoner swap between the nations.

"While it is likely that because of Mr Kivi's nationality some will speculate regarding this matter, consistent with prior practice I do not intend to comment further on the particular details of this case, particularly when any such response from me may diminish our government's capacity to deal with future matters of this type in Australia's best interests," he said.

The Brisbane Times reported in May that Kivi had appeared in a local court after lawyers for the US government applied for his extradition for allegedly conspiring to export "defence articles designated under the US munitions list" for the Iranian government.

On Saturday, Iranian news service FARS reported that Kivi had been released and returned to Iran after being detained in Australia since September 2018. Mr Porter's office declined to confirm that or give details on why he rejected the US extradition request.

Meanwhile, Australians Mark Firkin and Jolie King thanked their government for securing their release on Saturday. They had been posting their journey through South Asia and the Middle East when they were detained by Iranian authorities for allegedly using a drone to take footage of a military site.