The Canadian Press
Canadian-Iranian professor Homa Hoodfar has been freed from prison and flown out of the country.
IRNA filed a brief article Monday, saying she was freed on humanitarian grounds. Similar reports were filed by other Iranian media at the same time.
The Canadian government confirmed the news around 11 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quoted in a press release saying “Canadians are relieved that Dr. Hoodfar has been released from jail and will soon be reunited with her family, friends and colleagues.”
He added that Canada worked with other countries to secure Hoodfar’s release.
“In the absence of diplomatic representation of its own in Iran, Canada worked closely with others who were instrumental in helping secure Dr. Hoodfar’s release – most notably Oman, Italy and Switzerland. I would like to extend our sincerest appreciation for their support.
“I would also like to recognize the cooperation of those Iranian authorities who facilitated her release and repatriation. They understand that cases like these impede more productive relations,” he is quoted as saying.
Kaveh Ehsani, a friend of Hoodfar’s in Chicago, declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. Other family members did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I am jubilant,” said Kimberly Manning, an associate professor of political science at Concordia and principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute who has been actively championing for the release of Hoodfar.
She told the Montreal Gazette she didn’t know Hoodfar’s condition after some 114 days in a notorious Iranian prison.
The only certainty is that, if Hoodfar’s release has been secured, she will be returning to an ecstatic and warm homecoming in Montreal by many friends, colleagues and students who have been fighting for her freedom.
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Hoodfar, 65, was questioned and barred from leaving Iran in March after travelling to the country to visit family following the death of her husband. Her family said she was imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison since June. Hoodfar until recently taught anthropology and sociology at Montreal’s Concordia University.