News
Canadian woman missing in Iran and her family believes she’s been detained
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A B.C. father is making a tearful plea to help find his missing daughter, whom he believes is being detained in an Iranian prison.
Amir Bahraminia says his 35-year-old daughter, Behnoush, disappeared in Tehran along with her partner Mathew Safari, also known as Majid, nearly a year and a half ago.
“She is in trouble,” Bahraminia told Global News, “I know she is in Iran. I haven’t heard her voice and I haven’t seen her.”
The couple left B.C. for Tehran in November 2021. Behnoush’s parents say the pair planned to travel to the Persian Gulf Island of Kish. The family was in constant contact with Behnoush and had a close relationship, but since landing in Tehran on Nov. 6, 2021, the family in Canada has heard nothing from them.
Behnoush had previously travelled to Iran to visit family with no issues, her father said.
There’s no record of Behnoush’s arrest or any charges, but the family says two sources in Iran, who they can’t identify for safety reasons, allege the regime is holding her in prison, on “super threats to national security.”
Her family says Behnoush, a Canadian-Iranian who lived in Metro Vancouver, was not a political person. She was a manager at a spa in West Vancouver.
They say she enjoyed spending time with her family and had a degree in psychology from Iran. She wanted to start over again in her chosen field when she immigrated to Vancouver in 2013 but couldn’t due to language barriers. Instead, her family says, Behnoush trained as an aesthetician and was devoted to her job.
Safari, also Canadian-Iranian from Port Moody, had allegedly planned to buy an apartment on Kish Island. Behnoush’s parents say the home was being built by RoyalBox Group in Iran. Global News reached out to RoyalBox but the company has no record of any purchase.
Behnoush’s family also doesn’t know Safari’s whereabouts. His parents are deceased, they say, and it is not known if he has any family searching for him.
Global News reached out to Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly’s office, which referred the question to officials at Global Affairs Canada, who said they are aware and are gathering further information to provide consular assistance.
The family notified Global Affairs Canada of their daughter’s mysterious disappearance last year. In recorded phone conversations, Global Affairs confirms the contact occurred and also confirms it didn’t act after being made aware of Behnoush’s disappearance. When a family representative asked why Global Affairs said it was waiting for a call back that never happened. A policy, the family, says makes no sense.
Since Behnoush’s father and mother struggle with speaking English, they have appointed realtor and family friend Nima Sheihky as a representative. He has been advocating for Behnoush.
“Behnoush is a Canadian citizen and the Government of Canada should follow my daughter’s case,” Bahraminia said, in Farsi.
The last message the family received from Behnoush was a text she sent her brother Mohammed on Nov. 5, 2021. She wrote “I’m not n Turkey” with a photo of what her mother, Parvin Jalilian, says is the hotel the couple stayed at during their layover in Istanbul, Turkiye.
Mohammed says he looks over that text and questions what she meant by it. He believes Behnoush was trying to send a clue, and that she must have written it, he assumes, in haste.
Behnoush’s boarding pass shows her on Turkish Airlines (TA) Flight 76 from Vancouver to Istanbul on Nov. 4, 2021 landing in Tehran on TA Flight 872 on Nov. 6 of that year.
The Imam Khomeini Airport Police Authority provided a document to relatives of the Bahraminia family in Iran saying Behnoush was seen at the airport in Tehran on Nov. 9, 2021.
It’s unclear what happened between Nov. 6 and 9 at the airport.
Standing in the now abandoned downtown Vancouver condo of his sister, Mohammad feels sadness surrounded by Behnoush’s presence.
“All these things around here remind me of her. I always look at her bed. She’s not there, ” he said, wiping tears off his face.
“The fact that after 15 months, they (Islamic Republic) haven’t told us what has happened, it shows me that she hasn’t done anything,” Mohammad added.
He says he wishes he could go back in time and warn his sister against travelling to Iran.
Life for the Bahraminia family is on hold. An open wound, they say, that just won’t heal, until they bring Behnoush back home to Canada.
“We need help. Help to find out what happened to my daughter,” Amir Bahraminia said.
The Canadian Down Syndrome Society (CDSS) is sharing a new awareness campaign featuring photos of older people with Down syndrome.
The ‘Here I Am’ photo gallery was launched today, to mark World Down Syndrome Day, and showcases portraits of older Canadians living with the condition.
“People age 40 and over are hugely underrepresented in all aspects of media, social media pictures, they’re just not visible,” Laura Lachance, executive director of CDSS told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday. “So we embarked on this campaign to bring these faces to the front.”
According to the organization, the life expectancy of Canadians with Down syndrome has doubled in the past 40 years, from 25 years in 1983, to more than 60 years in 2023.
“What’s changed is advances in medical technology, both in diagnostics and in treatment,” Lachance said. “So a lot of children who used to die in their early years are now surviving, taking advantage of all the interventions and living a long healthy life.”
Although many are living into adult life, Lachance said the challenge of finding caregivers who understand Down syndrome remains.
“As more of the Boomer parents are living longer, there’s going to have to be some kind of initiative by employers to perhaps take a look at how they can support their employees who need to take time away from work or work differently in order to care for their loved one,” Lachance said.
The photo gallery features only people over the age of 40 who are living with Down syndrome. The portraits were captured by Hilary Gauld from One for the Wall and CDSS.
Hear the full interview with Lachance by clicking the video at the top of this article.
Politics·New
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had protested to Canada’s top diplomat in Moscow over comments by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly about “regime change” in Russia.
Russia called Joly’s comments a ‘Russophobic attack’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had protested to Canada’s top diplomat in Moscow over comments by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly about “regime change” in Russia.
The ministry said it summoned Canadian charge d’affaires Brian Ebel on Monday and told him Joly’s comments were unacceptable.
Canadian media quoted Joly as saying at a news conference on March 10: “We’re able to see how much we’re isolating the Russian regime right now — because we need to do so economically, politically and diplomatically — and what are the impacts also on society and how much we’re seeing potential regime change in Russia.”
The Russian statement condemned the “Russophobic attack” and said it would have serious consequences for relations. Russia reserved the right to take “appropriate counter-measures” depending on Ottawa’s further steps.
Canada, a member of NATO and the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies, has joined its Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, it welcomed the International Criminal Court’s move to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s commissioner over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war.
A Canadian city has just been named the worst in the country for bed bugs for the third year in a row.
Orkin Canada, a pest and wildlife control services organization, revealed in a release Tuesday that Toronto was the city in which it carried out the highest number of commercial and bed bug treatments in 2022.
Following Toronto in second is Vancouver, B.C. then Sudbury, Ont. in third.
London, Ont., which went unranked in 2021, is new to the list this year, clinching the eighth spot in the top 10 “buggiest” cities in the country in 2022
Ontario dominated the top 10 list with a total of eight cities across the province being ridden with bed bugs, including Oshawa, Ottawa, Scarborough, Sault Ste. Marie, London, and Hamilton.
“Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs are visible to the naked eye, but are excellent at hiding. Involving a trained professional to identify bed bugs that have been introduced or are in the early stages of an infestation is recommended,” Dr. Alice Sinia, a Ph.D. Entomologist at Orkin Canada, said in the release.
“Bed bugs are extremely resilient, making them difficult to control. As people begin to ramp up their travel plans this year, it’s important they know how to protect themselves through pest identification and proper control.”
Sinia explains bed bugs can hide in taxis, buses, trains, and airplanes, so travellers should regularly check their clothes and luggage for any unwanted passengers.
To avoid a bed bug infestation while travelling, Orkin recommends the SLEEP method – survey your hotel room for any bed bug symptoms, lift and search typical bed bug hiding spots like mattresses and underneath cushions, elevate your luggage, examine your personal items, and place your clothing in the drier for up to 45 minutes on the highest setting.
At home, Orkin recommends decluttering your space, and thoroughly inspecting second-hand furniture for dark ink-like blot marks or whitish egg clusters.
These are Canada’s 25 “bed buggiest” cities, in order:
- Toronto, Ont.
- Vancouver, B.C.
- Sudbury, Ont.
- Oshawa, Ont.
- Ottawa, Ont.
- Scarborough, Ont.
- Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
- London, Ont.
- St. John’s, N.L.
- Hamilton, Ont.
- Winnipeg, Man.
- Montreal, Que.
- Windsor, Ont.
- Edmonton, Alta.
- Timmins, Ont.
- Moncton, N.B.
- North York, Ont.
- Etobicoke, Ont.
- Calgary, Alta.
- Mississauga, Ont.
- Whitby, Ont.
- Prince George, B.C.
- Regina, Sask.
- Brampton, Ont.
- Halifax, N.S.
World Down Syndrome Day in Canada – CTV News
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