Beirut says it will pursue through the United Nations the fate of four Iranian diplomats still missing after being kidnapped over three decades ago in Lebanon.
Å“I will on this very day ask Lebanonâ„¢s permanent representative at the United Nations to inquire about the latest investigations into this case by the UN and its Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon],” Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said at a meeting with the families of the abducted Iranian diplomats on Thursday.
Mansour said Beirut had sent the United Nations two formal letters in the past two years confirming the abduction of the Iranian nationals on the Lebanese soil and these have been recorded as official documents at the UN Secretariat.
He added that the Lebanese Justice Ministry has been asked to submit a report on the latest investigations conducted into the case, vowing not to spare any effort at both national and international levels to resolve this Å“painful issue.”
During the meeting, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi and Maryam Mojtahedzadeh, an advisor to the outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, praised Lebanon’s efforts to shed light on the fate of the four diplomats.
They called for continued pursuit of the case by the Lebanese government and the UN and other concerned international organizations, expressing hope that close cooperation between Tehran and Beirut will help to bring the kidnapped Iranians back home.
Å“We expect the Lebanese government to play a constructive role in determining the fate of our loved ones and … prepare the way through negotiations with the UN and other international bodies to mount pressure on the Zionist regime [of Israel] more than before,” said Mojtahedzadeh, wife to one of the missing diplomats.
On July 4, 1982, Ahmad Motevasseliyan, Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi, Taqi Rastegar Moqaddam and Kazem Akhavan were kidnapped by a group of Israel-backed gunmen at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon.
The Lebanese militia forces headed by Samir Geagea was known for its close ties with Israel at the time and was responsible for handing over many Lebanese and foreigners to Israeli custody at the peak of Israelâ„¢s invasion of Lebanon.
Geagea has made contradictory statements concerning the Iranian diplomats, initially saying that his militia handed them to Israel and later claiming that they witnessed their killing inside Lebanon.
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has said that the fate of the abducted Iranians had been raised in indirect negotiations for a prisoner exchange with the Israeli side after the 2006 war.
However, Israel has refused to release any information about the four missing Iranians.
MRS/SS/HMV
Republished with permission from: Press TV