Iran's Foreign Ministry Announces Release of Homa Hoodfar, Iranian-Canadian Professor

Less than a week after the meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran and Canada on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry announced the release of Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian citizen, "for humanitarian reasons." According to a report on Monday by the state news agency IRNA, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for Iran's diplomatic apparatus, referred to Homa Hoodfar as a "retired professor from Canadian universities" and announced that she was released on Monday evening and returned to Canada via Oman. He did not provide further details but mentioned that Ms. Hoodfar was detained in Iran due to "some accusations" and was released "for humanitarian reasons, including illness." Homa Hoodfar, a 65-year-old Iranian-Canadian citizen, had been summoned several times to the Tehran Security Prosecutor's Office since the last days of the previous year and was arrested on June 7. Early in July, the Tehran prosecutor announced that she was accused of "engaging in feminism and security crimes." Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi reported a few weeks later that an indictment against Ms. Hoodfar, along with several other dual nationals, had been issued and sent to court. In late June, Iran's Minister of Justice referred to the case of Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of the National Bank of Iran, who fled to Canada after the exposure of the so-called "three thousand billion tomans corruption case," stating that Canada was not cooperating with the Islamic Republic to return him. At that time, the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail suggested that the Iranian government might be using Ms. Hoodfar's detention as leverage against the Canadian government. In early September, it was reported that Canadian media stated that Ms. Hoodfar had been hospitalized due to physical ailments, and Katayoun Hoodfar, her sister living in London, confirmed her hospitalization in an interview with Radio Farda. She expressed concern for Homa Hoodfar's condition, stating that she did not know how long she had been hospitalized and reminded that her sister had spent three months in solitary confinement. At that time, the Canadian newspaper Toronto Star reflected a statement from Ms. Hoodfar's family, mentioning that this university professor suffered from "severe muscular weakness," raising concerns about her health. Concerns about Ms. Hoodfar's health were echoed in statements from several academic and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, which expressed concern for Homa Hoodfar's health in a statement and called for her immediate and unconditional release. Canada, which has been a critic of the Islamic Republic on human rights issues, cut its relations with Iran in 2012, but recently, with the rise of Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, signs of a willingness to restore relations with Tehran have been observed. Until the last day of Farvardin, the foreign ministers of the two countries met for the first time since the severance of relations, and according to Canadian officials, "consular cases" and "regional issues" were among the topics discussed in this meeting. In this context, the meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran and Canada for the first time since the severance of relations expressed serious concern over Homa Hoodfar's health. Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian professor, "was transferred from Evin prison to the hospital." The Hoodfar family rejected the Tehran prosecutor's accusations against this university professor. The accusation against Homa Hoodfar: "Engaging in feminism and security crimes." A request from dozens of prominent humanities professors for Homa Hoodfar's release. Amnesty International called for Homa Hoodfar's "unconditional release." Canada: We will do everything we can for Homa Hoodfar's release. An Iranian-Canadian professor was arrested by the IRGC intelligence protection. The changing landscape of "proxies"; war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph; the responsibility of opponents and the possibility of radicalization of Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis.