B.C. family unable to return from Iran due to expired passport

“It's really scary to hear that my wife is trapped in Iran. I spent hours on the phone trying to find a solution. I didn't even know where to start as there's no embassy in Iran."

A family in the Okanagan was looking forward to reuniting with their relatives across the globe, as they travelled to Iran in early March.

However, over a month later, the trip has not yet ended, as the family is unable to leave the country due to an expired passport.

Roham Pahlavan hasn’t seen his wife and kids in over a month and isn’t sure when he will see them next.

“I just want my family back home. I have many gifts on my children’s beds and we’re just waiting for them to come celebrate easter,” said Pahlavan.

His wife, Shima, travelled to Iran with their children Annie and Artin to visit her mother, as the kids hadn’t yet gotten the chance to meet their grandmother.

However, the family overlooked a key detail when they were flying out of Kelowna — their seven-year-old daughter’s passport was expired.

“Upon trying to leave Iran three weeks later, they encountered a Lufthansa employee that right away noticed the passport doesn’t match my daughter’s and it was expired by a year. The passport photo is six years old and shows my daughter as an infant,” said Pahlavan.

This put the brakes on the family’s flight home, unable to leave the country without a valid passport for their daughter.