I must say that I am rigorously non-partisan in my analyses.

It is very difficult to answer your question specifically because very little is known, at least publicly, about consular issues. That is why, in the case of Homa Hoodfar, which was resolved earlier this year, we do not know why she was imprisoned by the Iranian authorities—taken hostage, for all practical purposes—or why she was released.

Was she taken hostage simply because of disputes between the factions in the Iranian regime, given that hardliners wanted to obstruct the moderates' efforts to engage?

If that is the case, it is independent of any action by Canada. The fact that she came from an English-speaking country is actually a plus. There are often people from Australia, Britain, the United States, and Canada, but there are also cases of people from France. If Homa Hoodfar was released owing to the evolving disputes among the various factions, that is relatively independent of any Canadian action and, as a result, of the presence or absence of a Canadian embassy in Iran.

I maintain that it is in our interest to have an embassy in Teheran for consular, diplomatic, trade, and other reasons. I am not prepared to conclude, however, as regards consular disputes and on an ad hoc basis, that not having an embassy did in fact harm us. It is impossible to determine that since there is so little public information about these cases. First of all, we do not know why they occurred, or how or why they were subsequently resolved.

In the case of Ms. Hoodfar, there is a plausible hypothesis. Without the slightest evidence, it is possible that the Iranian authorities feared that she might get very sick in prison. The Iranian authorities are not angels. They have no regard for human rights, but they are aware of public relations issues.

The death of Zahra Kazemi 13 years ago was a public relations disaster for the Iranian government. At the highest level of the Iranian government, the decision might have been made to make sure this kind of thing did not happen again where a person with dual citizenship died in prison. On the other hand, Iranian citizens very often die in prison, and that will not stop. To my knowledge—and perhaps I am mistaken—, this was the last case of a person with dual citizenship. Homa Hoodfar was ill and older, and that could be why she was released. We cannot be sure, however.

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