Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has offered to help gain the release of former Whitebridge High School student Jolie King and two other Australians being detained in Iran.
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The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday that Ms Bishop had offered to use her "long-standing and constructive relationship" with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to secure the release of Ms King, fellow travel blogger Mark Firkin and University of Melbourne Middle East politics specialist Kylie Moore-Gilbert.
Ms Bishop travelled to Tehran in 2015 and met President Hassan Rouhani.
She said in a statement from the United Kingdom that she was "available to support the government in its efforts to secure the release of the detained Australians, should the government make that request".
Ms King and Mr Firkin were arrested by security forces about 10 weeks ago while allegedly flying a drone at Jajrood, a military area near the capital of the Islamic republic.
Ms Moore-Gilbert was detained in October last year and sentenced to 10 years in jail.
The Newcastle Herald spoke to a school friend of Ms King's who said she was a "nice, loving human being".
"She was, and I'm sure still is, a great person, and this was just an unfortunate mistake that she didn't think would end like this," the friend said.
Ms King was also a hairdresser in Newcastle, including at Nesbitt hair studio in Darby Street, Cooks Hill. Her family lives in Lake Macquarie.
She and Mr Firkin moved from Newcastle to Perth in 2015.
They quit their jobs in April 2017 and less than three months later had embarked on an overland expedition destined for Britain.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the families of the pair, who face up to six months' imprisonment inside Evin Prison.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said she had travelled to Bangladesh to meet Mr Zarif, but she has not revealed details of those talks.
REPORTED EARLIER
To prepare for their epic adventure, Mr Firkin, formerly a builder in Coffs Harbour, and Ms King sold most of their possessions before embarking on several months around the north of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
From Darwin, they freighted their Toyota troop carrier to Timor-Leste and drove into Indonesia, shipped their car to Malaysia and have driven overland through South-East Asia into Central Asia and Iran.
Intended to take in 36 countries and to confront "the stigma around going to some of the places ... and what the media kind of portrays about these areas and how safe they actually are", the journey was cut short in June by their imprisonment.
When the pair stopped posting on their Instagram account and to their YouTube channel, friends became concerned.
"You guys OK? It's been a while," one follower wrote.
"What the hell is going on - these are extremely lovely people. I really hope they are fine and well," another wrote.
The couple's last post was from western Kyrgyzstan in late June.
Images from their website and social media presence over the past two years show a number of images of the pair and their vehicle taken by drone.
London's The Times has reported Ms King is believed to be imprisoned as a bargaining chip for a prisoner swap with Iranian woman Negar Ghodskani, who was extradited from Australia to the US and charged with a conspiracy to export prohibited technology to Iran.
Ms Ghodskani, 40, was arrested in Australia at the request of US authorities and gave birth in prison in Adelaide.
She has pleaded guilty to the charge, which carries a sentence of up to five years in a federal US prison.
"Let's have an exchange. I'm ready to do it. I have the authority to do it," Mr Zafir said in April.
Iran has yet to comment on the arrests or diplomatic attempts being made by Australia.