B.C. professor trapped in Iran says Canada has offered 'almost nothing' to help

A British Columbia professor who is trapped in Iran says he's been told by officials there's "almost nothing" the Canadian government can do to help him and his family.

Simon Fraser University engineering professor Simon Jannesar says in an email that communications are extremely limited and Canadian authorities don't seem to have a plan to deal with the situation.

Jannesar's wife and two infant children had travelled to Iran before Israel launched strikes against the country, and he told his students that when the conflict began he had no choice but to join them.

The United States joined the conflict over the weekend by bombing Iran's nuclear sites and with airspace now closed there's no way for the family to get out.

He says in an email written to The Canadian Press at 3:45 a.m. local time on Sunday during a brief window of internet access that communications are extremely limited and calls cannot be received from outside the country.

Jannesar says he managed to call a Canadian government emergency line but after hours of conversation was initially told to fill in an online form, despite the lack of internet connection.

"Finally one of the agents kindly did it on phone for me. But after so many back and forth talks they told me that there is almost nothing they can do," Jannesar said.

"Their answer to my question of 'what service (do) you exactly provide in this emergency line?' was something in lines of: 'we are answering your questions! And calls! And if you were not a Canadian we were not answering your questions!"

One of Jannesar's students shared a message from him last week describing the professor's situation in an online forum, before the U.S. attack.

In that message to his class Jannesar said he was still trying to provide recorded lectures despite the war conditions.

"As you can most likely hear in my lecture nine recording, it is literally like a war zone with explosions coming around every now and then," he wrote, asking his students for help getting out word about his situation. 

A spokesman for Simon Fraser University confirmed that one of its lecturers was stuck in Iran but said it could not provide a recording of the lecture described by Jannesar because access was limited to students.

Jannesar says in his email that the Canadian officials he spoke with "were nice and respectful" and he did not want to be "harsh" about them.

"But there are actually no managerial plans behind it and (it's) not clear what they offer. It’s not even clear in the wording of their emails that what they do they do or can do," he said.

Jannesar says the internet had been shut down for days before a brief period of access.

The university said a second staff member who was in Iran had managed to cross into Turkey.

"We are closely monitoring the situation, and the safety and well-being of our SFU community members remain our top priority," a spokesman said.

He added that "options for departure from the region are extremely limited" and that the trapped faculty member had been encouraged to contact the university's  international health and security provider and Canada’s Emergency Watch and Response Centre for consular assistance.

While Iranian airspace is closed, land crossings into Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan are possible options for Canadians attempting to leave Iran, according to Global Affairs Canada.

Canadians in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Iran are "advised to remain close to a bomb shelter or a hardened structure away from windows," a Global Affairs Canada web page reads.

Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Vahid Salemi