An Australian academic imprisoned in Iran for two years has revealed she's dating again after being brought back to Australia in a deal brokered by Australia's top spy.
Dr Kylie-Moore Gilbert is living a quiet life in the Dandenong Ranges outside of Melbourne eight months on from arriving home - but not with her former partner who moved on while she was behind bars.
'I came out and I thought: When's the PTSD going to kick in?' Dr Moore-Gilbert told The Age this week.
The 34-year-old said she was trying to regain some sense of normality and has been spending her time writing a book about her experience in an attempt for closure.
'These things take time to settle, so actually it would be unusual if I came out of prison and started having PTSD straight away,' she added.
She also spilled the beans that she has returned to the dating scene but declined to delve into any details.
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert (pictured) who spent more than two year in Iranian prisons on false spying charges has revealed she is dating again after divorcing her husband
The Islamic studies scholar was freed in November 2019 in a prisoner swap deal after spending 804 days behind bars on spying charges levelled by Iran's government which she denies.
The swap deal was brokered by the former boss of Australia's spy agencies ASIS and the Office of National Intelligence, Nick Warner.
Once she arrived home to discover her husband Ruslan Hodorov had moved on with another woman - her former colleague at the University of Melbourne.
Her mother broke the news while she was in quarantine that her Russian-Israeli husband was having an affair with Dr Kylie Baxter, her former PhD supervisor.
Their relationship began while Dr Moore-Gilbert was held captive in two of Iran's most notorious prisons.
An 'upset and disappointed' Dr Moore-Gilbert filed for divorce shortly after returnign home, and made the announcement it was official on her Twitter account in April.
Her ex-husband was spotted out and about with his new lover that same month.
Dr Moore-Gilbert (left) filed divorce shortly after her release after finding out Mr Hodorov was having an affair with her former colleague Dr Kylie Baxter (pictured together at right)
Ms Gilbert said this week she now views her incarceration through a somewhat clearer lens - but when she was first detained at Tehran airport - about to fly out after attending a conference - her brain 'could not compute' what was happening.
She said going from thinking she would be returning to her new husband, their newly bought home and her academic career to eventually hearing an Iranian court sentence her to 10 years was devastating.
When she first went to prison she explained she felt almost like giving up but that she learned through her own experience and with the help of other prisoners that going on the offense was her best defense.
'In terms of assault or bullying by other prisoners or prison guards or interrogators, if you made it very clear you would lose your shit if they crossed a certain line, they would quickly decide not to do that because it would be too much of a headache or a hassle for them.'
That fiery temperament wasn't without consequences, however, she was sent for long periods in solitary confinement and was even transferred from Tehran's Evin Prison to the even worse Qarchak Prison.
She was eventually given a Farsi grammar book and newspaper which she used to learn the language while alone in her cell - which she says saved her mental health.
Talking about her arrest and hastily conducted trial is where flashed of anger on an otherwise remarkably grounded persona appear.
Dr Moore-Gilbert Tweeted earlier this year she had met Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured)
She says a half-hour conversation with a man while at the conference in Iran is what led to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard arresting her.
They briefly discussed politics particularly the situation in Bahrain and when officers later arrested the man she believes he gave her up as a scapegoat to get himself out of trouble.
She is part of an international campaign to enable governments to sanction foreign individuals who breach human rights laws - with her particular focus on the Iranian Revolutionary Court judge who sentence her in a secret trial with no evidence presented.
Dr Moore-Gilbert said she still has mixed feelings about Iran and does not hate the country - while her treatment was unfair she said many people she met were compassionate.
Other inmates and female guards at the prison would regularly look out for her and bring male guards back into line when they were disrespectful.
And she concedes prison has toughened her a little which may not be an entirely bad thing.
When she learned her old life was not waiting for her when she returned to Australia, rather than wallow in grief she was quick to file for divorce and focus on herself.
She revealed in April this year how she wanted nothing to do with her former husband having previously revealed how she was keen to 'move on' from the marriage.
'I don't care what he is doing. He is none of my business… that is my ex and I don't care about him,' she told the Herald Sun.
Dr Moore-Gilbert declared the divorce was finalised in a post on Twitter, making light of the situation with a
