Pair Was Documenting Their World Tour In Part Using Drone Photography

A couple traveling on Australian passports has been arrested in Iran for allegedly operating a drone without a license and are being held in the country's notorious Evin prison.

The U.K. newspaper The Metro reports that the two have been identified by Iranian authorities as travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin. They have been traveling around the world and documenting the adventure, often using photos and video captured using a drone.

Ms. King is being held in solitary confinement in Evin prison. The pair face 10-year sentences for flying a drone without a license. Shortly after arriving in Iran, they were arrested while camping on a hill near the capital of Tehran which is also near a military area.

The pair has not yet been tried, according to Editor in chief at Iranian television station Manoto TV, Pouria Zeraati, who said in a tweet that King's family says the incident is no more than a misunderstanding, and that King and Firkin were not aware of the Iranian law which forbids flying a drone without a license.

The BBC reports that King is possibly being held as part of a plan for a potential prisoner swap with Australia.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is handling the case, as well as other cases of Australian citizens being held in Iran.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report