Iran on Tuesday once again gave no clear information on the whereabouts of an Iranian journalist working for the Al Jazeera news network who went missing in April shortly after arriving in Syria and who has reportedly been sent back to Iran, DPA reported.
Dorothy Parvaz, a 39-year-old who holds US, Canadian and Iranian nationalities, works for Al Jazeera's English-language channel. She has not been in touch since she landed in Damascus on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
According to an Al Jazeera spokesman, she was returned to Iran after she entered Syria with an Iranian passport and was being held in Tehran.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry, however, refrained from clarifying whether she was really in Iran or not, although Syrian authorities have reportedly confirmed her deportation to Iran.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday that Iran did not acknowledge any dual or triple nationalities, but did not elaborate further.
According to local laws, whoever has an Iranian father is considered and treated as Iranian. Any other nationalities are ignored, especially with regards to legal issues.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi also said Monday that he had no information on the whereabouts of the woman.
The spokesman further pointed out that Parvaz had entered Damascus with an expired Iranian passport and without any legal press accreditation, even though, as an Iranian, she did not have any need for an entry visa into Syria.
"She has committed several legal violations and her case should be followed up," Mehmanparast said, without giving further details.