Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Israel is responsible for the kidnapping of four of its diplomats in Lebanon. Amid Iranian efforts to release these diplomats allegedly abducted in east Beirut by a pro-Israeli Lebanese group in 1982, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has put the main blame on Israel. “The Zionist regime is the main culprit in the kidnapping of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon,” Mottaki said on July 4 expressing Iran’s resolve to follow up the fate of “its sons” seriously.
Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevasselian, Kazem Akhavan and Taqi Rastegar-Moqaddam were kidnapped by Phalangists while on their way back from a mission in north Lebanon to Beirut on July 4, 1982. The Iranian diplomats, along with a photojournalist, went missing after they were detained by the Phalangist militia, before being handed over to Israeli forces.
Mottaki called for bringing the ‘illegitimate’ Israeli regime into a trial and said, “Tel Aviv has and continues to violate international regulations. Its history is full of threats, terror, killing and occupation.” The Iranian minister pointed to the recent ‘games’ played by Israel and its allies in the Middle East and said, “These games are only a ring of a failed scenario, which aims to promote passivism among Muslim and regional countries.”