Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef travelled to Iran using a religious pilgrimage visa and an Afghan passport.

Nearly two weeks after questions were first put to Monsef about her extensive travel to Afghanistan and Iran in 2010, 2013 and 2014, her office has finally released a detailed statement, exclusive to the Sun.

“Minister Monsef travelled to Iran in each case on her Afghan passport, which she obtained at the Afghan Consulate in Toronto,” wrote John O’Leary, Monsef’s Director of Communications.

Iran is one of the most closed and secretive countries in the world. It is very difficult for private citizens from Canada to visit Iran.

“In each case, she travelled to Iran on a pilgrimage visa, a common visa many Muslims use to visit holy sites in Iran.”

Iran issues special pilgrimage visas for Shi’ite Muslims wishing to visit the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad. This shrine is considered one of the holiest sites for Shi’ite Muslims.

“On her trips, she visited the Imam Reza shrine holy sites as well as her family members,” O’Leary continued.

New information that Monsef travelled with a pilgrimage visa, however, deviates from a statement issued by Monsef’s press secretary to Postmedia’s David Akin earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Monsef’s office released a statement saying that she travelled to the region in order to go to Afghanistan.

“Her ultimate destination was Afghanistan, where she wanted to visit her father’s resting ground to pay her respects, and work to empower women and girls,” Monsef’s press secretary wrote on Tuesday.

“She was unable to travel there due to terrorism and violence. She briefly remained in Iran volunteering with the Afghan refugee community before returning to Canada.”

The original statement contained no mention of visiting the Reza Imam shrine or travelling for the purpose of a religious pilgrimage.

“As is the case with many Afghan refugees, and as she had noted before, Minister Monsef has family members that live in Mashhad, Iran,” O’Leary wrote to the Sun.

There are approximately three million Afghans living in Iran, and one million have legal residency in the country.

According to a report compiled by the Country of Origin Information Centre, an independent organization that provides research for the Norwegian government, all Afghans living in Iran before 2001 participated in government census registrations, making them legal residents of Iran.

Monsef and her family fled Afghanistan in 1996. They first went to Mashhad, Iran, then eventually made their way to Montreal, where they became landed refugees in Canada.

Monsef has said that her family does not have any legal status in Iran, despite the recent revelation that she was born in Mashhad, Iran, not Herat, Afghanistan as she had previously claimed.

The Sun also asked how Monsef was able to obtain travel documents from Iran, since the two countries have no diplomatic ties and the Iranian embassy in Ottawa was closed in 2012.

“In 2010, when Iran had representation in Canada, her visa was requested from that mission,” wrote O’Leary.

“In 2013 and 2014, when that representation was no longer present, she obtained her visa through the Pakistani mission in Washington, D.C., which was facilitating the issuing of travel documents on behalf of Iran.”

Monsef has finally started answering questions about her connections to Iran and Afghanistan. This is a good sign, and Monsef needs to continue to be transparent in answering questions about her complicated past.