TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry has asked international bodies to mount pressure on Israel over the abduction of four Iranian diplomats which Tehran believes are still alive and in Israeli captivity.

Three Iranian diplomats, Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevaselian, Taqi Rastegarmoghaddam and an IRNA photographer, Kazem Akhavan, went missing in northern Lebanon during the country's civil war on July 4, 1982.
According to the Iranian Embassy in Beirut they were snatched at a Lebanese Forces checkpoint north of Beirut on their way back from the northern city of Tripoli.
A statement carried by the Iranian Foreign Ministry website on Monday hailed attempts by the Lebanese government as well as some other international bodies over the past years, asking UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other human rights entities to deliver commitment and lay the ground for the release of the Iranian diplomats.
According to the communique, the Lebanese government had penned a letter to the UN secretary general in September 2008, confirming that the Iranian diplomats had been abducted in Lebanon.
Also, the statement reiterates Tehran’s previous call for an international fact-finding panel to investigate the case.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates its previous proposal for the establishment of a fact-finding committee to further clarify different aspects of the case," said the statement.
The statement has been issued on the 34th anniversary of the abduction.
Since the abduction, there have been contradictory news stories about the fate of the abducted diplomats.
While Iranian officials believe that Israel is behind the abduction, Israel has denied any involvement, saying the diplomats were killed and buried by Phalangists, Christian militia in Lebanon backed by Israel.
In an announcement days after the incidence in 1982, the Iranian Foreign Ministry underlined that it knew the action was in retaliation for anti-Zionism steps of Iran’s embassy in Beirut. 
Israel at the time was carrying out a major military operation in Lebanon.
There were attempts in 2004 by Kamal Kharrazi, then Iranian Foreign Affair Minister, to learn about the fate of the abductees after Israel and Hezbollah carried out a German-mediated swap.

“The main aim of this visit to Lebanon is really the (fate) of four Iranian captives who were captured in 1982,” Kamal Kharrazi said at the start of a two-day visit to Beirut.

Iran says its diplomats are held in Israel as a possible trump card in a future deal involving information about Ron Arad, the Israeli pilot who was bailed out during a mission in Lebanese air space. 
However, in 2006, Samir Geagea, then-commander of Christian militia Phalange forces and current president of the Lebanese Forces party, claimed in an interview with As-Safir newspaper that his militia witnessed the diplomats' killing without giving further evidence.
Geagea’s claim was promptly dismissed by Iran.
“Such remarks are unacceptable. These persons are alive and are held by the Zionist regime, and we hold Zionist regime accountable,” former Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.

During the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Lebanese militia forces headed by Samir Geagea were known for close connections with Israel.
In 2009, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, said “there are signs the Iranian diplomats are in an [Israeli] jail,” rejecting the claims by Israel.
In June 2011 Ghazanfar Roknabadi, Iran’s ambassador to Beirut said the four Iranian diplomats are still alive and being held in Israel.
Roknabadi died in a hajj stampede in Mina in 2015.
“We believe that they are alive in Israeli jails. That’s why we have asked the Lebanese government to seriously follow-up the issue,” Roknabadi said following talks with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.
Recently, Iranian officials have said they have evidence showing that their diplomats are not dead.
In May, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan asserted that four Iranian diplomats are alive and in Israeli captivity, saying there is evidence to believe so.
“We continue to believe that our diplomats are still alive and in Israeli custody. We hold them accountable for their fate and will do whatsoever it takes politically and legally to free them.”
Dehghan's comments sparked the hashtag #freemotevaselian among Iranian social media users with more than 23 million followers, according to ISNA news agency.
Also, earlier in June, Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei had said that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is involved in security and intelligence activities to the diplomats.
Information provided by the country’s security and intelligence services suggest that the diplomats are alive, he had noted.
AK/PA