This undated photo made available by Amanda Ghahremani, shows retired Iranian-Canadian professor Homa Hoodfar. A Tehran prosecutor said Monday, July 11, 2016, that Hoodfar, who is a retired professor at Montreal's Concordia University, is among four people with foreign ties indicted on unknown charges in the Islamic Republic. Iran does not recognize dual nationalities.Uncredited/The Associated Press
The federal government says it is "actively engaged" in the case of a Canadian-Iranian university professor reportedly indicted on unknown charges in Iran.
A report from Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency on Monday quoted the country's Prosecutor-General as saying that four individuals, including Concordia University professor Homa Hoodfar, had been charged. The report did not include any more details about the nature of the charges.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion's office said the government is looking into the reports of Prof. Hoodfar's indictment.
"We are aware of media reports pertaining to charges being laid against Dr. Hoodfar. Consular officials are seeking to confirm these reports," Mr. Dion's press secretary, Chantal Gagnon, said in an e-mail on Monday. "Privacy considerations prevent us from discussing government of Canada involvement in further detail, however, rest assured that this case is a priority for us."
Ms. Gagnon said Mr. Dion and parliamentary secretary Omar Alghabra have met with Prof. Hoodfar's family and that consular officials remain in close contact with them. She also said the government is seeking advice from and working closely with allies in order to best assist Prof. Hoodfar.
Prof. Hoodfar's niece, Amanda Ghahremani, said her family had read the news out of Iran, but they and the professor's lawyer had not been informed of the actual charges. She said they are waiting to hear more before making further comment.
Prof. Hoodfar, 65, holds Canadian, Irish and Iranian citizenship, according to Amnesty International Canada. She travelled to Iran on Feb. 11, primarily to visit family, but also to conduct research on the history of women's participation in Iran's elections.
She is an anthropologist of the Middle East and has been teaching at Concordia's department of sociology and anthropology since 1991.
In early March, the counterintelligence unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard raided her home in Iran and confiscated her passports, phone and computer. She was detained and later released on bail.
On June 6, she was detained again – this time in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison, with no reason or charges. As far as her family knows, Prof. Hoodfar is still being held in the prison today, without access to her family or lawyer.
"We consider Prof. Hoodfar to be a prisoner of conscience, and that means that she should be released immediately and unconditionally," Amnesty International Canada secretary-general Alex Neve said. "Evin Prison is perhaps the most notorious in Iran. It's known as a detention centre where torture and ill treatment is commonplace."
Amidst Monday's reports, Montreal's Concordia University said it is still "deeply concerned" about Prof. Hoodfar's case and stands ready to provide assistance to Global Affairs Canada as it continues to work on her situation. One of her Concordia colleagues, Geneviève Rail, said Prof. Hoodfar has travelled to Iran for research before without any problems.
"Her work is not political. It's very analytical, archival, very nuanced," Dr. Rail said. "That's the kind of work that she's been doing for 30 years and there's never been an issue. Nobody has ever told her that she was being subversive, because she wasn't."
There are also concerns about Prof. Hoodfar's health, as she suffered a mild stroke last year and has a rare neurological illness, known as myasthenia gravis, for which she needs access to her medication.
Negotiations over Prof. Hoodfar's case are complicated by the lack of diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran. The former Conservative government closed the Canadian embassy in Tehran and kicked Iranian diplomats out of Canada in 2012. However, Mr. Neve said there are other options available for diplomatic talks in the absence of formal relations.
"There's options to be working very closely with other governments in her case, especially with the European Union, given that she's also an Irish national," Mr. Neve said, adding that Prof. Hoodfar is the only Canadian citizen he knows of that is currently imprisoned in Iran.
"My understanding is that they [the Canadian government] have reached out to and are working with European governments."
According to Monday's news report, three others were indicted in Iran: Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman who has pushed for closer ties between the two countries and whose father is also held in Iran; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British woman who works for Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency; and Nizar Zakka, a U.S. permanent resident from Lebanon who has done work for the U.S. government.
With a report from Associated Press