The ministry issed a statement on Saturday, honoring the memory of the abducted diplomats and expresseing solidarity with their patient and hopeful families.
Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevaselian, Kazem Akhavan, and Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, were abducted in Beirut on July 5, 1982.
The statement points out that
they were abducted by agents affiliated with the Zionist regime.
It further says, there is ample evidence indicating that the Iranian diplomats were abducted by an armed group in Lebanon during the Zionist regime’s occupation of Lebanese territory, handed over to the occupying forces, and subsequently transferred to the occupied territories.
According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the abduction not only violates international law and represents a grave breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, but also constitutes an act of terrorism under the 1979 International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages.
It appreciated the cooperation of the Lebanese government on pursing the case of the four abducted diplomats, calling on the authorities of the Lebanese government, the UN Secretary General, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other competent international bodies to fulfill their legal and humanitarian responsibilities in following up on this case.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry emphasized the
establishment of a joint fact-finding committee between Iran and Lebanon, with the cooperation of the ICRC, to pursue the matter and determine the status of the abducted diplomats.