Foreign Affairs is treading lightly and saying little as it attempts to win the release of Iranian-Canadian Homa Hoodfar, a professor at Montreal’s Concordia University who was arrested in Tehran in June.
Hoodfar, 65, is currently being held incommunicado in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison with no access to her family, lawyers and medication to treat a serious neurological disorder.
Iranian media say she was indicted on unknown charges on Monday with three other people.
Hoodfar holds both Canadian and Iranian passports, as well as an Irish passport. A professor of anthropology, she is considered a world expert on sexuality and gender in Islam.
At the time of her arrest, she was doing research in Iran and preparing to return to Montreal.
Friends say she is apolitical and observers say she is being used as a pawn for political purposes by Tehran. For exactly what remains unclear.
Matters are further complicated by the lack of diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran.
Hoodfar’s case evokes haunting memories of the case of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian photographer who was killed in Evin Prison in 2003 and Saeed Malekpour, an engineer from of Victoria, B.C. who has been imprisoned in Iran since 2008 for allegedly corrupting morals.
He was sentenced to death in Iran for allegedly designing and moderating pornographic websites. Malekpour developed an Internet photo-sharing tool that his supporters assert was used without his knowledge for pornographic purposes.
Iran does not recognize dual nationalities and a number of nationals, including people with French, British and U.S. passports have been arrested because of alleged security issues.
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