IRNA � Lebanese political figures have called for more serious efforts on the side of the government in the country as well as the United Nations in dealing with the issue of four Iranian diplomats kidnapped in northern Lebanon in 1982.


In July 4, 1982, while Lebanon was overwhelmed by a civil war with half of the country under the Israeli occupation, four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped by the militias known as the Lebanese Forces (LF).

In those days Lebanon was experiencing tough days as the Zionist occupiers, aided by their proxy forces, felt free to commit massive crimes and wreak havoc, something that caused the case of Iranian diplomats to fall into oblivion.

But 36 years on with Lebanon embracing peace and tranquility, the issue of Iranian diplomats has attracted attention of political figures in the country who want brotherly ties between Tehran and Beirut.

Lebanese Member of Parliament Hekmat Dib told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in a recent interview that it is necessary today the government in Lebanon to establish mechanisms and use all available tools to try to clarify fate of the four kidnapped Iranian diplomats.

'This is also responsibility of the international community to address issue of the Iranian diplomats,' Dib said on the sidelines of a ceremony held to commemorate the Iranian diplomats.

He also urged the Lebanese lawmakers to pass required laws to address the issue of the Lebanese or non-Lebanese taken hostage in the country.

Ebrahim Mousavi, member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc a Hezbollah political wing in the Lebanese parliament, described the kidnapping of Iranian diplomats in 1982 as a human crime committed by militias affiliated with the Zionist enemy.

'Those who attacked Lebanon and occupied the country are responsible for the crime,' Mousavi said.

He said that the Iranian diplomats were denied their political and diplomatic immunity.

'The United Nations and International Red Cross should also shoulder their responsibility in this regard,' he added.

But Adnan Hassan Mansour another Lebanese diplomat, politician and former minister of foreign affairs and emigrants argued that it is more the responsibility of the Lebanese government than the global community to pursue the case of the Iranian diplomats.

'The antihuman crime has taken place on the Lebanese soil and the four kidnapped diplomats were part of the Iranian mission in Beirut,' Mansour said.

'It should be clarified who ordered the kidnapping and who executed it,' he added.

Lebanese journalist and analyst Ghaleb Kandil was on the same view with Mansour, saying 'First of all, it is responsibility of the government of Lebanon to deal with the issue.'

'Such desperate actions are violation of the simplest international treaties and norms,' Kandil said.

'The Zionist regime of Israel and its proxies in Lebanon were behind such a crime,' he said.

'The main responsibility, in this regard, goes to the Lebanese government to put pressure on the Zionist regime to set free the kidnapped Iranian diplomats,' he added.