ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Global Affairs Canada is outraged over Tehran preventing an Iranian Canadian woman from leaving the Islamic Republic.
"I am outraged to learn that Maryam Mombeini, widow of Kavous Seyed-Emami, was barred from leaving Iran. We demand that, as a Canadian, she be given the freedom to return home," tweeted Canadian FM Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The couple's two sons were permitted to board a flight out of Tehran early on Thursday, CBC News reported.
"She just begged us to get on the flight," wrote one of the sons, Ramin Seyed-Emami, in a message to CBC News.
He added that she still retains her Canadian passport and has returned to her house in Iran.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran pressed President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to answer.
Iranian-Canadian academic and environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami died under suspicious circumstances in #Iran’s Evin Prison last month. https://t.co/XoxIvii4uR. Today his wife was prevented from leaving the country. Why @HassanRouhani @JZarif? pic.twitter.com/nUBNWCWSB1
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) March 8, 2018
Kavous Seyed-Emami was a 63-year-old Iranian Canadian professor who died while in custody in Iran on February 9.
The US-trained professor was managing the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. He was arrested in late December on suspicion of espionage and spying.
Iran arrested nearly 5,000 people following protests that spread across the country in January, according to Iranian MP Alireza Rahimi.
His cause of death is contentious. Iranian authorities claim he committed suicide in prison, but not have allowed
Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi claimed Kavous Seyed-Emami was a part of an espionage ring collecting information on "strategic areas."
“He knew there were a lot of confessions against him and he also confessed himself,” Dolatabadi was quoted as saying after the death by Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency. “Unfortunately, he committed suicide in prison.”
Ramin Seyed-Emami's wrote on Instagram that he "can't believe this." The son is a prominent musician with the stage name of King Raam.
Iran does not recognize dual nationalities. People detained in the Islamic Republic cannot receive consular assistance.
