Iran releases Canadian-Iranian professor held since June

FILE - This undated file photo made available by Amanda Ghahremani, shows retired Iranian-Canadian professor Homa Hoodfar. Iranian media are saying Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, that the country has released retired Canadian-Iranian professor Homa Hoodfar, who was detained in the Islamic Republic earlier this year. (Courtesy of Amanda Ghahremani via AP, File) FILE - This undated file photo made available by Amanda Ghahremani, shows retired Iranian-Canadian professor Homa Hoodfar. Iranian media are saying Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, that the country has released retired Canadian-Iranian professor Homa Hoodfar, who was detained in the Islamic Republic earlier this year. (Courtesy of Amanda Ghahremani via AP, File)

By Associated Press September 26, 2016 1 min read

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran’s state-run news agency is reporting that Canadian-Iranian professor Homa Hoodfar has been freed from prison and flown out of the country.

IRNA filed the brief story Monday afternoon, saying she was freed on humanitarian grounds. Similar reports were filed by other Iranian media at the same time.

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.

Hoodfar, 65, was questioned and barred from leaving Iran in March after traveling 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.