Iran hints it has North Van journalist Dorothy Parvaz

VANCOUVER – Friends of a B.C. journalist believed to be in detention in Iran are hopeful after an Iranian foreign ministry official acknowledged Tuesday that he was aware of Dorothy Parvaz.

The official did not confirm that Parvaz is in the Iran, but he did say during a weekly briefing with reporters that she is accused of passport violations.

“They have not gone as far as to say that they actually have her, but it is a step that they claim she has committed some violations,” her long-time friend Sheelagh Brothers told The Canadian Press.

Until now, the Iranian government had said it knew nothing of the woman, Brothers said.

Iranian official Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in Tehran that Parvaz committed violations by trying to enter Syria with an expired Iranian passport and “planned to work without a press permit and had several passports on her.”

Mehmanparast said Iran does not recognize multiple nationalities for Iranians. Iranians do not need advance visas to enter Syria.

He did not specifically address the whereabouts of 39-year-old Parvaz, but said the Foreign Ministry was “following the issue to find out what happened to Parvaz, which is important to us, too.”

Parvaz was arrested more than two weeks ago upon her arrival in Syria, where she was going to cover anti-government protests for Al-Jazeera’s English-language news network.

Syrian authorities have told the Qatar-based network that Parvaz, who has Canadian, American and Iranian citizenship, was deported to Iran on May 1.

Brothers and a group of Parvaz’s friends set up the Find and Free Dorothy Parvaz Campaign and are urging Canadians to contact the Iranian embassy in Canada to “politely” ask for her release.

The group also wants members of the public to pressure Prime Minister Stephen Harper through social media to contact Iranian officials and demand she be set free.

Her father, Fred Parvaz of North Vancouver, told Al-Jazeera that he hopes the Iranian government will treat his daughter with dignity and respect, as she is an Iranian citizen.

The 18 days since Parvaz vanished have been very worrisome for her family and friends, said Brothers.

“More than anything we just want to know that she’s safe and that she’s being well taken care of, and not knowing where she is tremendously stressful,” she said.

Brothers, who became friends with Parvaz in high school in North Vancouver, said Parvaz has led a nomadic life, but always made sure they got together when she returned to B.C.

A graduate of the University of British Columbia, she joined Al-Jazeera last year.

Al-Jazeera and international press groups, including the Canadian Association of Journalists and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, have appealed for information on the Iranian-born journalist.

Parvaz’s expulsion from Syria came amid a broader crackdown on media covering the anti-government protests gripping the nation.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said about 20 local and international journalists have been assaulted or detained in Syria or expelled from the country since the protests against Assad broke out in March.

– With files from the Associated Press

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