TEHRAN — The Iranian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement on the 38th anniversary of the abduction of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon by mercenaries of the Zionist regime.

“Thirty-eight years have passed since the kidnapping of four Iranian diplomats, Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevasselian, Kazem Akhavan and Taghi Rastegar, by mercenaries of the Zionist Regime of Israel at the al-Barbareh checkpoint in northern Lebanon back in 1982,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“As it has been announced over all these years, evidence suggests that the diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon were handed over to the forces of the occupying Zionist regime of Israel and then taken to the occupied territories and that they are now being held in the prisons of this illegitimate regime,” it said.

The ministry pointed out that Lebanon was occupied by the Zionist regime at the time with the full support of the United States, adding that Iran holds the Zionist regime and its supporters politically and legally responsible for their kidnapping which was a terrorist act.

The statement also criticized the international community for failing to take any serious action with regard to the crime.

It went on to say that the Zionist regime keeps committing crimes and its acts are in breach of international regulations and continue to shirk responsibility for the issue.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran appreciates the Lebanese government’s cooperation and actions to establish the fate of the four above-mentioned diplomats, including the sending of a letter to the then UN secretary-general in 2008 in which the abduction of the Iranian diplomats has been highlighted.”

“In the meantime, Iran once again wants Lebanese officials and the UN secretary-general and the International Red Cross and other international institutions to seriously discharge their inherent, legal and human responsibility in pursuing this case, and make every effort to shed light on the status of the abducted diplomats and, accordingly, [Iran] stresses the necessity of the establishment of a fact-finding committee by the International Committee of the Red Cross,” it added.

The Foreign Ministry also sympathized with the kidnapped diplomats’ families, who have suffered a lot over all these years and have always been waiting for them to return home, and hoped that all those held captive or prisoner by the Zionist regime, especially the four dear diplomats, will be released soon.

MH/PA