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| 02/07/2008 Twenty-six years have passed since four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped in Lebanon during the Israeli invasion in 1982. Their fate is still unknown until this moment, amid contradictory reports in this concern.
On July 5, 1982, four Iranian citizens, Sayyed Mohsen Mousavi (Iran's then Charge d’ Affaires in Beirut), Ahmad Motevaselian (Military Attaché), Taqhi Rastegar Moghadam (driver and technician of the embassy) and Kazem Akhavan (newspaper correspondent and photographer of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency) were kidnapped despite being escorted by the Lebanese police on their way back home from a mission in northern Lebanon.
A Lebanese Forces (LF) checkpoint in the Barbara region abducted the four diplomats and handed them over to Israeli occupation forces.
Samir Geagea's LF and the invading forces were close allies at that time.
The Lebanese police, who accompanied the Iranian diplomats, were released after a short time later and their car was found one day after the kidnapping, in one of the areas of Tripoli.
Marking the 26th anniversary, the Iranian embassy in Beirut issued a statement stressing this abduction case was one of the ugliest and longest human tragedies witnessed in our times, characterizing it as a stigma in the face of humanity.
The statement reiterated the embassy's belief that the four diplomats are still alive and held in Israeli prisons in a complete violation of the international law.
Israel has been denying it is detaining the four Iranian diplomats, but reports and testimonies by released prisoners confirm the opposite.
In 1998, Ahmad Abib Allah, head of the Association for Defending the Foreign Prisoners in Israeli prisons said that he saw some of the Iranian citizens (probably four) in Israeli prisons. In the same context, liberated detainee Nassim Nisr confirmed lately that the Iranian diplomats were in Israeli prisons.
The statement also stressed this issue was never political but humane, holding the international community responsible for it. Iran's diplomatic mission in Beirut also stressed Tehran would continue its efforts until the release of the diplomats. It expressed deep regret that this issue was still open.
In the same context, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohamad Ali Hosseini said Tuesday that Israel is responsible for the abduction, noting that Iran has made great efforts in the past 26 years to clarify the fate of the kidnapped Iranian nationals and will continue the same.
"Tehran has urged international organizations, including the United Nations, to exert pressure on Tel Aviv to help clarify the whereabouts of the abducted Iranians soon," he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli political circles revealed that an Israeli report that was submitted to Hezbollah through the German mediator in the framework of the swap deal confirmed that the Lebanese Forces militia had liquidated the Iranian diplomats just after kidnapping them.
However, Iranian Charge d'Affaires in Beirut Mohamad Ferdawsi Bor stressed that Tehran believes the diplomats were still alive, expressing hope their fate would come to light in the few coming days as the swap deal between Hezbollah and Israel is done.
Speaking to Orange TV, Bor said Tehran didn't play a direct role in including the diplomats' file in the swap deal, adding that revealing the fate of Israeli pilot Ron Arad was not Iran's responsibility but Lebanon's. | 
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