An act of revenge between countries trying to restore ties

By: M. H. Broomand

Some days ago, there was horrible news of a Canadian judge that has ordered Iran’s non-diplomatic land and bank accounts in Canada to be handed over to victims of attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah, sponsored by Tehran. The judgment awards a reported $13 million to families of Americans who died in eight bombings or hostage-takings in Buenos Aires, Israel, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 2002.

This comes after a series of incident taken place by Iranian Government over arresting a Canadian-Iranian professor in Tehran on a charge of espionage or collaborating with a hostile government. To put it more, a Canadian-Iranian professor researching women in the Muslim world has been arrested by Iranian intelligence officers, the latest in a series of detentions of Iranians holding dual citizenship.

The professor, Homa Hoodfar, was initially detained on March 10 by the intelligence unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and was then released, but she was not allowed to leave Iran. After a series of interrogations, Ms. Hoodfar, a professor of anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal, was arrested again last week and transferred to Evin prison, her family said in a statement released on Wednesday. The family said it was unclear why Ms. Hoodfar had been arrested and that she had been “conducting historical and ethnographic research on women’s public role.”

Analysts say the recent arrest of Ms. Hoodfar and others seems to be part of a concentrated effort by hard-liners to pressure dual citizens. Hard-liners distrust foreigners, especially dual citizens, who can travel into Iran without visas. In recent months, the unit that arrested Ms. Hoodfar has questioned dozens of people with two nationalities and arrested several.

After mentioning such statements about austerity measures of both countries, it seems weird that two countries trying to renew their political and economic ties have made such mistakes. Yet, regardless of how harsh these measures are but it would be better that such issues to be put forward legally in a just court instead of limiting innocent citizens of countries.

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