Iran's Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan surprised many Iranians when he said that the four Iranians kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982 were still alive and being held in an Israeli prison.
Ahmad Motevaselian, military attache for Iran’s embassy in Beirut; Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, charge d'affaires at the embassy; Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, an embassy employee; and Kazem Akhavan, a photographer for an Iranian news agency were kidnapped by a Christian militia when their vehicle passed through a checkpoint in the village of Borbara on July 5, 1982.