Canadian professor Homa Hoodfar was released Monday from an Iranian prison where she was held for over 100 days.
The Iranian foreign minister said she was released for “humanitarian reasons.”
“Homa Hoodfar, the retired professor of Canadian universities, who had been detained in Iran based on some accusations was released this afternoon for humanitarian reasons including illness, and left Iran to Canada, through Oman,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the news in a statement Monday morning.
“Canadians are relieved that Dr. Hoodfar has been released from jail and will soon be reunited with her family, friends and colleagues,” the statement reads.
READ MORE: MPs ‘relieved’ for Homa Hoodfar’s release from Iranian jail
He also says that Italy, Switzerland and Oman have been helping Canada since our country doesn’t have diplomatic representation in Iran.
Hoodfar, 65, was being held for “dabbling in feminism” since June 6. She was born in Iran but has lived in Montreal for 30 years. She holds Canadian, Irish and Iranian citizenship.
READ MORE: Who is Homa Hoodfar?
Hoodfar until recently taught anthropology and sociology at Montreal’s Concordia University, where colleagues told a news conference they were overjoyed with her release.
Margie Mendell, a Concordia professor and close friend, said Hoodfar’s niece, Amanda Ghahremani, was on hand to meet her in Oman, the first stop on her journey home.
“She’s very frail, she looks extremely thin … and very worn,” Mendell said of a report she received. “I suspect that she’s not in good health, but she’s free, she’s free and she’s out of Iran and she will get medical care and her medication.”
The former anthropology professor was hospitalized late last month due to “rapidly declining health,” according to her family.
Hoodfar travelled to Iran in February for both professional and personal reasons. Her family told Global News in June that she did some research at the country’s parliamentary library, but the trip was focused around visiting with family.
Her niece Amanda Ghahremani said Hoodfar’s research concerns “improving the daily lives of women” in the Middle East and Muslim countries — particularly those in impoverished or marginalized communities.
When Hoodfar tried to return to Canada in March, she was detained at the border and her passports and computers were seized and she was interrogated. She was released on bail.
READ MORE: Mohamed Fahmy urges families of detained Canadians to garner attention
She was arrested again on June 6 and was imprisoned in Evin prison, which has been linked to acts of torture.
In August, her family claimed that Iranian officials violated several laws, including preventing her lawyer from having access to her or her case file.
They also said solitary confinement and psychological pressure made Hoodfar disoriented and severely weakened.
Qasemi said Hoodfar had left Iran and was traveling to Canada via the Gulf state of Oman.
*with files from Global News, the Canadian Press and Reuters
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