Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki requested Lebanese officials on Tuesday to form a joint committee to probe into the fate of the four Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982.
In a message to his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Sallukh handed over by Iran’s Ambassador in Beirut Mohammad Reza Sheibani, Mottaki called for formation of an Iranian-Lebanese committee to investigate the fate of then charge d’affaires of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, military attaché Ahmad Motevaselian, embassy technician Taghi Rastegar Moghadam and journalist of the Islamic republic news agency Kazem Akhavan.
The Iranian diplomats were kidnapped in July 1982 by the Lebanese mercenary army – also known as the Falangists – affiliated with Israel. It is widely believed the men are being held by the Zionist regime, the Islamic republic news agency reported.
In an agreement reached between the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Zionist regime on a prisoner swap, the Zionist officials accepted to provide the Lebanese group with a report on the fate of the four Iranian diplomats.
Israeli officials said that the Lebanese Forces Party was responsible for the abduction.
Meanwhile, commenting on the issue Hezbollah Secretary General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah said last Thursday there were reports indicating that the four Iranians were being kept in the Zionist regime’s prisons.
Last week Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi called Israel responsible for the lives of the four Iranian diplomats.