The fiance of Al-Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz, who has been missing since she arrived in Syria in late April, has said he is puzzled why she had been moved to Iran.
"I don't know why they would deport her to Iran," Todd Barker, who is engaged to marry Parvaz, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
"She was traveling on the Iranian passport," he said, but in other circumstances when journalists were refused entry into Syria they were returned the way they came.
The Syrian embassy in Washington said Wednesday Parvez had been expelled to Iran after she tried to enter Syria illegally on an expired Iranian passport.
Parvez was put on a Caspian Airlines flight to Tehran on May 1, escorted by the Iranian consul in Damascus, it added.
"It is very regretful that a journalist working for a world renowned news agency such as Al-Jazeera International would attempt to enter a country on two illegal accounts: an expired passport, and by providing false information on official documents regarding her travel reason," it said in a statement.
Asked if he or her employer knew her exact whereabouts, Barker replied: "No. We don't."
Ottawa was seeking information on his fiance's whereabouts "with urgency" through diplomatic channels, he told Canada's public broadcaster.
A spokesman for Canada's foreign affairs department, Alain Cacchione, told AFP: "We are very concerned about (Parvaz) and are pressing for information about her whereabouts."
"Canadian officials are engaging Iranian and Syrian authorities at high levels to obtain additional information," he said. "We are seeking to provide consular assistance, as required."
Barker said he last spoke with Parvaz on April 28. The couple were engaged in 2010, but might accelerate their plans to get married "when she gets out."
"There are moments that are unbearable and you get through them ... You say, 'Okay, I need to write this letter to this person and get them involved,'" Barker commented.
Parvaz, who holds American, Canadian and Iranian passports, joined Al-Jazeera's English service in 2010.
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