TEHRAN – The Iranian ambassador to Beirut has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take measures to determine the fate of four Iranian nationals who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982.

Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi made the remarks during a meeting with the ICRC representative George Comninos in Beirut on Friday.
Four Iranian nationals, chargé d’affaires Mohsen Mousavi, military attaché of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ahmad Motevasellian, Taqi Rastegar Moqaddam, a diplomat from the embassy, and Kazem Akhavan, a reporter and photographer from the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), were captured by a Phalangist militia while traveling to southern Lebanon in 1982, then handed over to the Zionist regime and transferred to a prison in occupied Palestine.
In the meeting, Roknabadi said, “This is a national case for the Iranian nation and government and we will pursue it till the fate of these people is determined.”
He added Iran believes the four diplomats are being held in an Israeli jail and the Islamic Republic expects the representatives of the United Nations and the ICRC in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories to put the issue on their agenda.
Comninos said that the ICRC is serious in pursuing the case.
The two sides also explored ways to increase cooperation between the ICRC and the Islamic Republic.
Larijani’s message conveyed to Lebanese parliament speaker
In addition, Roknabadi held a meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday and conveyed the message of Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani to him.
The two officials also exchanged views on the expansion of relations between Tehran and Beirut