Friends prepare for return of Concordia Prof. Homa Hoodfar detained in Iran

Friends of the retired ConcordiaUniversity professor who had beendetained in Tehran's infamous Evin prison since June are preparing for her arrival ThursdayinMontreal.

But there are no plansjust yetfor a big partyfor Homa Hoodfar.

"Everybody is conflicted between wanting to be with her and spend time with her and also the need to be really, really respectful of what she's been through," MargueriteMendell, a friend andfellow Concordia professor, said in an interview.

"She's been through an indescribable last three months that none of us can possibly even imagine."

Hoodfar, who is65 and suffers from a rare neurological disease that causes severe muscle weakness, was detained in Iran for 112 days.She was taken to hospital at one point, and friends say shecould barely walk or talk.

The Iranian-Canadian was released from prison Monday and has spent the past few days in Oman, where she was metby her niece, Amanda Ghahremani.

• ANALYSIS|Homa Hoodfar: A hostage, not a criminal

Hoodfaris expected to speak to reporters uponher arrival on Thursday morning at Montreal's Trudeau airport.

Friends say they plan to take their cues from Hoodfar,in terms of what comes next.For now, they are making sure her Montreal home is ready for her and stocked with food.

"Everybody is doing the best they can, but also knowing that it's her home, and we should not invade.Justto make sure that she's got food and that her house will receive her warmly,"Mendellsaid.

Mendell said she eventually hopes to host a big party for her longtime friend.

"I hope to have one, but not for a while," she said.

Hoodfar, an anthropologist who writes about sexuality and gender in Islam,was accused by Iranian authorities ofcollaborating with a hostile government against national security and with propaganda against the state.

Those charges, however, were neverpresented to her lawyer. Instead, they were published in the Iranian press, which quotedthe prosecutor as sayingHoodfarwas "dabbling in feminism."

Hoodfarwas indicted along with three others who are still detained in Iran:

• SiamakNamazi, an Iranian-American businessman.
• NazaninZaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British woman who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency.
• NizarZakka, a U.S. permanent resident from Lebanon who has done work for the American government.

Hoodfar's release came following Foreign Affairs Minister Stphane Dion'smeeting with his Iranian counterpartat the United Nations in New York last week.

• Private meeting at UN between Trudeau team and Omani officials led to Hoodfar's release by Iran

Canada has had no formal diplomatic relations with Iran since September 2012, when the former Conservative governmentclosed its embassy in Tehranand expelled Iranian diplomats from Ottawa.