Hoodfar was previously arrested on March 10 a few days before her planned return to Canada before being released on bail.
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Hoodfar, who has written several works on women and society in Islamic countries, went to Iran in February to do research on women’s public role.
Hoodfar was first arrested in March – shortly before she was to leave the country – by the counter-intelligence unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who searched her Tehran residence and seized her personal computers, cellphone, and passport.
Hoodfar was then re-arrested this week.
Iranian authorities have arrested an Iranian-Canadian anthropologist on unknown charges, according to her family.
Its not yet clear whether she’s been charged with espionage, sedition, or propaganda against the state.
Hoodfar’s lawyer and family have not been allowed to visit her, the family says.
Hoodfar until recently taught anthropology and sociology at Montreal’s Concordia University.
Hoodfar was once again summoned for interrogation on Monday but was not released. “She’s not political. She’s not an activist”.
On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion acknowledged that not having an embassy complicated matters. “And the Iranian Revolution of course didn’t help because that’s what they officially show – women wearing black all the time”.
Officials say the case is a priority but are refusing to disclose any additional details because of privacy considerations.
The new Liberal government has said it will re-establish relations with Iran and reopen the embassy the previous Conservative government closed in Tehran 2012.
“We’re very confused and baffled by what’s going on because those who know Homa either personally or through her academic work know she’s … someone who’s incredibly even-handed and balanced”, Ghahremani told The Associated Press. “We will do everything we can (by) working with the like-minded countries that are in Iran”.
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Her plight has harrowing echoes of the case of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian freelance photographer who was killed in an Iranian prison in 2003. However, after two months and now her arrest, the family is anxious quiet diplomatic pressure is not working and made the decision to make her case public.
