Severe Concern Expressed Over the Health of Homa Hoodfar

Katayoun Hoodfar, sister of Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian professor imprisoned in Iran, expressed severe concern about her sister's health in an interview with Radio Farda on Tuesday. Canadian media reported on Tuesday, September 9, that Homa Hoodfar, the Iranian-Canadian professor imprisoned in Iran, has been hospitalized due to physical discomfort. Katayoun Hoodfar stated, "My sister has been in solitary confinement for three months." She added, "We do not know why my sister has been hospitalized and her condition is not good... We are not sure if she has had access to her medications or not." Homa Hoodfar, a 65-year-old professor of anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards while on a research trip to Iran. Various individuals and organizations, including Amnesty International, have called for the release of this university professor. Reza Pahlavi, head of the National Council of Iran, also expressed severe concern about Ms. Hoodfar's situation in a letter to Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, stating, "News related to Dr. Hoodfar reminds us of the late Zahra Kazemi, another Iranian with dual nationality, who was arrested in 2003 and later killed under torture. We hope that a similar tragic fate does not befall Dr. Hoodfar at the hands of the Islamic judiciary." In his letter to the Canadian Prime Minister, Prince Reza Pahlavi added, "I believe your government will do everything in its power to secure the release and return of Ms. Hoodfar and Saeed Malekpour, and I am confident that you will pursue the issue of human rights violations in Iran at the international level." Earlier, a group of members of Islamic communities in Canada and academics sent a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, calling for the release of Homa Hoodfar and other political prisoners. The letter stated: "We are a group of members of Islamic communities in Canada. Our purpose in sending this letter to you concerns Professor Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian Muslim professor of anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal... The arrest of this woman is truly incomprehensible to us. While unfortunately today, in the current political world, the words 'Islam' and 'Muslim' are synonymous with violence, repression, and intolerance, the arrest of Professor Hoodfar will only exacerbate this perception." Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle Eastern studies in Denver, USA, explained to Radio Farda the reason for sending a letter from members of Islamic communities in Canada for the release of Ms. Hoodfar, stating: "Most letters and requests for Ms. Hoodfar's release have come from secular centers and individuals; in this letter, we wanted to present the request from a different perspective and show the Muslim public that there is a significant gap between the Islamic claims of the Islamic Republic and their actions." Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public prosecutor of Tehran, stated in early July about the latest status of Homa Hoodfar's case that she "has been involved in feminism and security crimes, and her case is under investigation in the Tehran prosecutor's office." The family of Homa Hoodfar issued a statement on July 7, rejecting the accusations made by the Tehran prosecutor and some media against her.