TEHRAN Chairman of the Expediency Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hojjatoeslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Monday the Iranian government and nation are sensitively following up the fate of four Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982. In a meeting with the families of the Iranian diplomats and the correspondent of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Kazem Akhavan, Rafsanjani said, "Under the condition that the United Nations and the westerners have made a hue and cry over the detention of the Jews accused of spying, the silence and carelessness toward the abduction of the Iranian nationals is a blatant contradiction." "The silence and carelessness of the international forums and the so-called human rights organizations toward the fate of the Iranian diplomats in Lebanon is not justifiable," Rafsanjani said.

"The four Iranians kidnapped in Lebanon have been political figures with popularity among the nation. Their ambiguous fate is very bitter for the Iranian government and nation," Rafsanjani said. He said that over the past 17 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has made every effort to clarify the fate of the diplomats in Lebanon and there is no doubt that the Iranian nation hope that they would see return of the diplomats.

He appreciated the patience of the families of those kidnapped in Lebanon. Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevaseliyan, Taqi Rastegar Moqaddam and Kazem Akhavan were kidnapped by pro-Israeli militia in Lebanon in 1982 and later transferred to Israel. (IRNA)