Australian academic held in Iran has been freed – Lawyer

According to Iran’s state media, the lawyer for an Australian-based academic detained on charges of trying to "infiltrate" Iranian institutions said on Sunday 27 January the woman had been freed, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Meimanat Hosseini-Chavoshi, a population expert, is affiliated with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. A dual Australian-Iranian citizen, she was detained as she was leaving Iran in December. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and does not routinely announce arrests or charges of dual nationals.

Population control has become a sensitive issue in Iran since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an edict in 2014 calling for a population increase after decades of state-promoted birth control. Last year, he urged greater efforts to combat enemy "infiltration" as tensions escalated with the United States after Washington withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Full report on The Sydney Morning Herald site