In a sign of easing tensions between Ottawa and Iran, ailing 65-year-old Montreal professor Homa Hoodfar was released from Tehran’s Evin prison and allowed to fly back to Canada, through Oman.

“I would … like to recognize the co-operation of those Iranian authorities who facilitated her release and repatriation,” said a statement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, welcoming her freedom. “They understand that cases like these impede more productive relations.”

He said that “Canadians are relieved that Dr. Hoodfar has been released from jail and will soon be reunited with her family, friends, and colleagues.”

Kaveh Ehsani, a DePaul University assistant professor in Chicago, and supporter of Hoodfar, confirmed that “Homa is indeed released and out of Iran,” but added that the family called for privacy before making further statements.

Hoodfar, a retired Concordia University professor, was first detained and interrogated in March, released on bail and rearrested in June, on undisclosed charges relating to links with feminism.

She was placed in solitary confinement and hospitalized last month. She suffers from a rare disease causing muscle weakness and family members said she was “very disoriented, severely weakened and could hardly walk or talk.”

Her fate appeared in doubt when she was returned to prison from hospital, and earlier this month her lawyer was replaced by one appointed by the court.

Iranian news agencies reported that Hoodfar was released “on humanitarian grounds.”

Maryam Nayeb Yazdi, Toronto-based founder of the human rights site Persian2English, said that “it seems they were quick to release her because her health was deteriorating and they didn’t want a second Zahra Kazemi case.” The Montreal photo journalist died in 2003 after imprisonment and torture in Evin prison, touching off a diplomatic row with Canada.

Hoodfar was targeted by the counter-espionage service of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which is in a power struggle with more moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who oversaw a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for easing of international sanctions.

But her release follows an unofficial meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif last Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly opening.

Iran is interested in restoring diplomatic relations, which were broken off by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2012, with the closing of Canada’s Tehran embassy and expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa.

Trudeau said that Oman, Italy and Switzerland were “instrumental” in facilitating Hoodfar’s release and return to Canada.

While Rouhani has pushed for openness toward the west — especially in badly-needed investment — the guards have targeted dual nationals, including Hoodfar, who has Canadian, Irish and Iranian citizenship. Iran does not recognize dual nationality, and denies consular assistance to such prisoners.

Saeed Malekpour, a Canadian permanent resident, was arrested in 2008 on widely decried espionage-linked charges and sentenced to life in prison.

“At a time when the regime is inviting the world to invest in Iran and trying to attract diaspora Iranians, these arrests aren’t going to make anyone feel secure about doing business in Iran,” said Payam Akhavan, an associate professor of international law at McGill University.

“The Iranian government must end this practice of using dual nationals as bargaining chips. I hope they will now release Saeed Malekpour and put an end to it.”

Alex Neve, head of Amnesty International Canada, said that although Hoodfar’s release is welcome, “she should never have been arrested in the first place.”

He added that it is important for the international community to keep up pressure on Iran to stop its crackdown against “activists, researchers and academics focusing on women’s equality and human rights.”

Although the charges against Hoodfar were never made public by the Iranian court, her arrest appears to be part of a broader campaign against women’s rights. Amnesty reported that the Revolutionary Guard published articles claiming that she was “the Iran agent of a feminist network-building operation.”

They described her work for women’s equality as “disrupting public order” and “prompting social-cultural changes that can ultimately pave the ground” for a “soft overthrow” of the clerical regime.

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In advance of the 2017 presidential election, the guards have summoned more than a dozen women’s rights activists in Tehran for “intensive interrogations,” including those promoting a fivefold increase in women political candidates. A prominent women’s rights magazine was forced to close, and female political activists put under investigation for undermining national security.

Hoodfar is known for her work on gender and women’s equality. In an interview last year with the News on Sunday, she said, “why is it that women are wearing the veil and men are not? But women are not just accepting this, they are subverting it too.”

With files from Peter Edwards and The Canadian Press.

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