Ahmad Motevaselian ( fa, احمد متوسلیان), an Iranian military attaché, was one of four Iranians who disappeared in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
in 1982.
During the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
, he was a commander in the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
and established the
27th Muhammad Rasoolullah Division of Tehran. He played a role in the
Liberation of Khorramshahr
The battle of Khorramshahr, also known in Iran as the liberation of Khorramshahr ( fa, آزادسازی خرمشهر, translit=Âzâdsâzī-ye Khorramshahr) was the Iranian recapture of the city of Khorramshahr on 24 May 1982, during the Iran ...
and later, as part of a senior diplomatic group of political and military leaders, went to
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. On 5 July 1982, when the vehicle carrying the diplomats was passing through a checkpoint post on its way to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, it was intercepted by
Phalange Party. The car and four passengers,
completely disappeared.
Iran has accused Israel of kidnapping and holding them in Israeli jails and covering up their fate.
Israel has said it is not aware of the fate of the diplomats. Iran called on the
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
(ICRC) to investigate their whereabouts. Three decades after the incident, the fate of the missing diplomats remains a mystery, and the search for Motevaselian and the other Iranians continues.
However, it is assumed that shortly after their abduction, they were executed by the Phalange.
Early life
Ahmad Motevaselian was born in a religious family in 1954 in the south of
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
. He spent his primary school years in Mostafavi school in Tehran. During his education, Motevaselian helped his father in his pastry shop. When he was a teenager, he participated in religious ceremonies and masque and started his political activities against the then ruling regime of
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
, the
Shah of Iran
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
. After finishing his primary education, he went to industrial school and received his diploma in 1973.
Before the Iranian Revolution
After graduation, Motevaselian went to
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
for military service and participated in a special tank training course and was then dispatched to
Sarpol-e Zahab
Sarpol-e Zahab ( fa, سرپل ذهاب, ''Sarpole Zahâb''; ku, Serpêllî Zehaw, ; also romanized as Sarpol-e Z̄ahāb, Sar-e Pol-e Z̄ahāb, and Sar-ī-Pūl Zūhāb; also known as Pol-e Z̄ahāb, Sarpole-Zahab, Pol-e Z̄ohāb, Sarī-Pūl, and ...
. During his service, he continued his political activities against the Shah. After military service, he was employed in a private company and after a few months was sent to
Khorramabad
Khorramabad ( fa, خرمآباد, Khorramâbâd ), alternatively romanized as Khorramābād, Khoramabad, Khurramabad, Khorram Abad, or Khur Ramābād, is a city and the capital of Lorestan Province, Iran. At the time of the 2016 census, its po ...
. In 1976, the
SAVAK
SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime ...
'secret police' arrested him for his political activities. He was jailed for five months in solitary confinement in
Falak-ol-Aflak Castle
Falak-ol-Aflak ( fa, فلک الافلاک, lit=the sky of the skies) or Shapur Khast Castle ( fa, دژ شاپورخواست) is a castle situated on the top of a large hill with the same name within the city of Khorramabad, the regional capit ...
in Khorramabad. Motevaselian actively participated in the
1979 Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
in his neighborhood and also the south of Tehran. After the victory of the Revolution, he established the
Committee of the Islamic Republic in the district near his home, and later joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
After the Iranian Revolution
Following the success of the Revolution, Motevaselian engaged in various revolutionary political and military campaigns:
* The operations against opposition within
Kurdistan Province
* Fighting anti-revolutionaries in
Bokan,
Baneh
Baneh ( fa, بانه, Bāneh, ku, بانە, translit=Bane) is a city and capital of Baneh County, Kurdistan Province, in Iran's western border. Baneh is bordered by Saqqez to the east, Marivan to the south, Sardasht to the west, and is approxim ...
, and
Saghez in 1979
* Liberation of
Sanandaj
Sanandaj (Persian: سنندج, ; ku, سنە, Sine, often romanized as Senneh, is the capital of Kurdistan Province in Iran. With a population of 414,069, Sanandaj is the twenty third largest city in Iran and the second largest Kurdish city. San ...
in western Iran from anti-revolutionaries
* Liberation of
Paveh
Paveh ( fa, Pâveh, ku, Pawe , پاوە, also Romanized as Pāveh, Pawah, and Pāweh) is a city and capital of Paveh County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. It is located in a region called Hawraman.
The first language spoken by the population in t ...
-
Kermanshah
Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
road in 1980
* Liberation of
Marivan
Mariwan ( fa, مريوان; ) also known as Qale Marīvān - "Fort Marivan"; formerly, Dezhe Shahpur (Persian: دِژ شاهپور), also Romanized as Dezhe Shāhpūr and Dezhe Shapoor) is a town in – and the capital of – Marivan Cou ...
city in May 1980
* Liberation of
Dezli heights
* Established the
27th Muhammad Rasoolullah Division
*
Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas
Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas ( fa, عملیات بیتالمقدس) or Operation Toward Beit-ol-Moqaddas () was an Iranian operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War. The operation was a success, as it achieved its standing aim of libera ...
on 30 April 1982
Mission in Lebanon
After the Liberation of Khorramshahr, Motevaselian knew that Israel had invaded Lebanon. In June 1982, he went to the Lebanese-Syrian border as head of a commando unit, but the unit was sent back to Iran by Syrian authorities but Motevaselian stayed for protecting Iran's embassy from Israeli and
Phalange Party. On 5 July 1982, when the vehicle carrying the diplomats was passing through a checkpoint post on its way to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, it was intercepted by
Phalange Party, and the car and four passengers disappeared, despite diplomatic immunity and that they were using an official state vehicle.
For the last time, Iranian diplomats were seen at
Barbara checkpoint that controlled by
Elie Hobeika
Elie Hobeika ( ar, إيلي حبيقة; 22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002) was a Lebanese militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bashir Gemayel's close confidants. After the murder of Gem ...
.
They were then abducted by the Phalange Party.
The missing diplomats are Motevaselian, military attaché and the head of the commandos of the June dispatch;
Seyed Mohsen Mousavi,
chargé d'affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...
for the Iranian embassy in Beirut; and
Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, the embassy technician; plus
Kazem Akhavan
Three Iranian diplomats as well as a reporter for Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982. None of them have been seen since. The missing individuals are Ahmad Motevaselian, military attaché for Iran's emb ...
, a journalist for Islamic Republic Press Agency.
Eight years later Geagea said: "they had been killed on the orders of the group's intelligence chief,
Elie Hobeika
Elie Hobeika ( ar, إيلي حبيقة; 22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002) was a Lebanese militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bashir Gemayel's close confidants. After the murder of Gem ...
." According to an Israeli report, these men were killed by Lebanese forces.
Israel claimed in a statement in 2010 that the diplomats had never been surrendered to Israel. Elsewhere in response to a request by the Lebanese
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
, it claimed that the four were dead.
But Iran has accused Israel of kidnapping and holding them in Israeli jails and covering up their fate.
Also, Iran called on the
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
(ICRC) to clarify their whereabouts. Israel has claimed that it is aware of the fate of diplomats, and that they were kidnapped by a Lebanese militant group and executed shortly after their abduction. It was believed (by whom?) that they were then buried at a site that was later obliterated by construction works.
Three decades after the incident, the fate of the missing diplomats remains locked in a debate between Iran and Israel. Apart from this debate, many scholars have assumed that shortly after their abduction, they were executed by the Phalange.
Investigations
Adnan Mansour
Adnan Mansour ( ar, عدنان منصور; born 5 January 1946) is a Lebanese diplomat, politician and the former minister of foreign affairs and emigrants.
Early life and education
Mansour was born in Bourj el-Barajneh on 5 January 1946 into ...
, Lebanese foreign minister, at a meeting with the families of the abducted Iranian diplomats said: "Beirut have sent the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
two formal letters in the past two years confirming the abduction of the Iranian nationals on the Lebanese soil and these have been recorded as official documents at the UN Secretariat."
The Lebanese justice ministry has been asked to submit a report on the latest investigations conducted into the case, vowing not to spare any effort at both national and international levels to resolve this painful issue.
Former Iranian President,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), is quoted by Iran's Fars News Agency as telling U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
during a meeting in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
: "Regarding the four abducted Iranian diplomats, there are documents that show they are alive and in the hands of the
Zionist Regime
Zionist entity ( ar, الكيان الصهيوني, ), Zionist regime ( fa, رژیم صهیونیستی, ), and Zionist enemy are interchangeable pejorative terms used predominantly by Arabs and Muslims in reference to the State of Israel. Many ...
." He also added that: "We expected U.N. Secretary General to take serious measures for their release."
On 23 May 2016,
Hossein Dehghan
Hossein Dehghani Poudeh ( fa, حسین دهقانی پوده; born 2 March 1957), commonly known as Hossein Dehghan, is a former IRGC air force officer with the rank of brigadier general and the former minister of defense of Iran. He was designat ...
(
minister of defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
of Iran) stated that Ahmad Motevaselian and Iranian diplomats who disappeared in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, are alive and prisoner in the Israeli jails.
In popular culture
''As Tough As Iron 3''
The third volume of the ''As Tough As Iron'' collection is about the life of Ahmad Motevaselian, written by
Zahra Rajabi Matin. This book is published by
Alhoda International Publications and is published in English and Arabic. ''As Tough As Iron'' consists of seven sections; "Ahmad Motevaselian, A Man who Struggled", "Motevaselian and the Revolution Guards Corps", "Motevaselian Sent to Kurdistan", and "Motevaselian Goes to Khuzestan" are some of the book's sections.
''Ambush of July 1982''
''Ambush of July 1982'' is calendar of events about kidnapping Iranian diplomats from 1982 to 2005, written by
Hamid Davood-abadi حمید داودآبادی. This is valuable book for knowing what happened to the Iranian diplomats in Lebanon. English translation of book was unveiled by the head of Foundation for the preservation of relics and values of the Holy Defense,
Mohammad Bagherzadeh. The book published by
Chamran Foundation and Foundation for the preservation of relics and values of the Holy Defense in 292 pages.
''Standing in the Dust''
''Standing in the Dust'' is a 2016 film about Ahmad Motevaselian, directed by
Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian and produced by Habibollah Valinezhad. The film won the ''
Crystal Simorgh for Best Film
Crystal Simorgh for Best Film is an award presented annually by the Fajr International Film Festival held in Iran.
Winners and nominees
Most wins and nominations
Production companies
Notes
References
{{Fajr Inte ...
'' at the 34th
Fajr Film Festival
Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival ( fa, جشنواره بینالمللی فیلم فجر), or Fajr Film Festival (little: FIFF; fa, جشنواره فیلم فجر), has been held every February and April in Tehran since 1982. T ...
.
Ahmad Motevaselian Memorial
There is a statue of Ahmad Motevaselian installed in
Maroun al-Ras
Maroun el-Ras ( ar, مارون الراس) is a Lebanese village nestled in Jabal Amel (Mount Amel) in the district of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in southern Lebanon. It is located around south east of Beirut, roughly one km (0.62&n ...
( ar, مارون الراس), a
Lebanese village in
Jabal Amel
Jabal Amil ( ar, جبل عامل, Jabal ʿĀmil), also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila, is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Musl ...
(Mount Amel) of the
Nabatiye Governorate. The statue is a memorial and tries to demonstrate that the commander was kidnapped.
Abdol Majid Farahani, the designer of Motevaselian statue, stated:
See also
*
Iranian diplomats kidnapping (1982)
Three Iranian diplomats as well as a reporter for Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982. None of them have been seen since. The missing individuals are Ahmad Motevaselian, military attaché for Iran's emb ...
*
Seyed Mohsen Mousavi
*
Kazem Akhavan
Three Iranian diplomats as well as a reporter for Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982. None of them have been seen since. The missing individuals are Ahmad Motevaselian, military attaché for Iran's emb ...
*
Taghi Rastegar Moghadam
*
List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
References
External links
Investigations documents for Iranian diplomats in mass media
Documentary film about investigations for Iranian diplomats (In English)Missing Iranian diplomats case remains unsolved after 3 decades (08 July 2012) (In English)Iranian diplomats still alive in Israeli jail (In English)Iranian diplomats still alive in Israeli jail (In YouTube) (In English)Iran marks 29th anniversary of 4 diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon – Jul 10, 2011 (In English)
Ahmad Motevaselian picture gallery
Ahmad Motevaselian pictures in Aviny websiteAhmad Motevaselian pictures in Sajed websiteStatue of Ahmad Motevaselian in Palestine borders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motevaselian, Ahmad
1954 births
1980s missing person cases
1982 kidnapping of Iranian diplomats
Date of death unknown
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War
Missing people
Missing person cases in Lebanon
People declared dead in absentia
People from Tehran
Military attachés
Imperial Iranian Army conscripted personnel