Recently released Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari was allowed to leave Iran Monday morning, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Esfandiari flew to Austria in the morning to meet her husband, Shaul Bakhash, said the report.
According to the report, Esfandyari Saturday called Bakhash, a George Mason University historian, to report she had been given an Iranian passport and she had to wait for one more day since she needs to apply an Austrian visa.
"I'm so glad Haleh could come back home," said Bakhash, adding Esfandiari would have a rest in Europe before returning to her home in the United States.
Esfandiari, 67, head of the Middle East program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was arrested in last December when she was in Iran to visit her 93- year-old mother. He passport was also said to be "stolen" at that time.
She was released on Aug. 21 after more than 100 days in prison, but was not immediately allowed to leave Iran.
The Iranian authorities had accused Esfandiari of harming national security and trying to foment a "velvet revolution" against the current Iranian government.
The detaining of Esfandiari and another three Iranian Americans has escalated the current tensions between Iran and the U.S.
Source: Xinhua
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