Iran Renews Push for Probe Into 1982 Abduction of Four Diplomats

Iran’s Foreign Ministry marked the 43rd anniversary of the July 4, 1982 abduction of four of its diplomats in Lebanon by renewing accusations that Israeli-linked armed groups kidnapped the men and later transferred them to Israel. In a statement released 5 July, Tehran called the seizure a terrorist act that violated the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1979 Convention Against the Taking of Hostages.

The ministry honoured chargé d’affaires Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, military attaché Ahmad Motevaselian, embassy employee Taghi Rastegar Moghadam and IRNA photographer Kazem Akhavan, who disappeared at a checkpoint north of Beirut during Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territory. Citing “ample evidence” that the men were handed to Israeli forces, Iran said their fate remains unknown but believes they are alive in Israeli prisons.

Tehran urged Lebanon, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to form a joint fact-finding committee to determine the men’s whereabouts, and expressed appreciation for Beirut’s past efforts, including its 2008 correspondence with the UN on the case. The call underscores Iran’s intention to keep the issue on the international agenda more than four decades after the diplomats vanished.