Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his top political staff and foreign policy advisers held a private "pull aside" meeting with the foreign minister of Oman and a small delegation of Omani officials. The prime minister had reached out to Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah 11 days earlier on Sept. 9 by phone to ask for Oman's help in securing Hoodfar's release from Iran. But this was their first face-to-face meeting, and it appears to have played a critical role in securing the Concordia professor's release. On Friday — just days after that UN meeting — Canada started to receive "cryptic signals" from Oman that Canada would see a "favourable resolution" to its issue within 72 hours. Trudeau was willing to use the capital of the Prime Minister's Office to secure the release of a Canadian detained abroad.

Source: CBC News September 27, 2016 00:11 UTC