TEHRAN, May 23 (MNA) � Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Dehghan said evidence shows four Iranian diplomats are still alive and in custody of Israel.


Hossein Dehghan said on Sunday the four diplomats taken hostage are alive and are in the custody of the Zionist regime.

"The Zionist regime must assume responsibility for health and safety of the four diplomats," Dehghan noted, adding the Islamic Republic of Iran will follow the case legally and politically to free them.

"The government will follow up on this issue," Iran's defense minister underlined.

Ahmad Motevasselian, Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, Kazem Akhavan and Taghi Rastegar Moghadam are four Iranian diplomats who were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982 in Beirut, Lebanon.

They were stopped at a check point in northern Lebanon by Lebanese Phalange forces commanded by Samir Geagea and later handed over to the Zionist regime.

None of them have been seen since.

By Mehr News Agency