Foreign Ministry’s statement came on the occasion of the 34th anniversary (July 5) of the kidnapping of 4 Iranian diplomats in Lebanon. In 1982, Israeli forces abducted Ahmad Motavaselian along with three others in Lebanon. Since then, efforts to find information about their whereabouts and fate had proved to be unavailing. “The Islamic Republic of Iran appreciates good offices of Lebanese government and other international organizations in addressing the issue including letter written by Lebanese government in September 13, 2008 to UN Secretary-General where the fact was confirmed that 4 Iranians had been kidnapped in Lebanese territory,’ said part of the statement.
“We firmly believe that the Zionist regime was responsible then since it had occupied Lebanon and any legal responsibility rests upon the regime; the evidence is decisive that four Iranian diplomats had been transferred to Occupied Territories having been kidnapped; UNSG, International Red Cross and other human rights organizations should act according to inherent responsibilities to mount diplomatic pressures on Zionist regime on action to give information as to their fate,” emphasized the statement.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly proposes establishment of an international fact-finding committee to address different aspects of the issue,” it concluded.
Ahmad Motevaselian, military attaché for Iran’s embassy in Beirut; Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, charge d'affaires at the embassy; Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, an embassy employee; and Kazem Akhavan, a photographer for an Iranian news agency were kidnapped by a Christian militia when their vehicle passed through a checkpoint in the village of Borbara on July 5, 1982. Of the four Iranians, Motevaselian was the most popular figure because of his role in the liberation of Khorramshahr as commander of the 27th Mohammad Rasoul-Allah Brigade during the Iran-Iraq War.
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