Ahmad Motevaselian

Ahmad Motevaselian (احمد متوسلیان)
File:Ahmad Motevaselian.jpg
Nickname(s)	Haj Ahmad, Ahmad Motevaselian
Born	1954 Tehran, Iran
Died	?
Allegiance	Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
Rank	Major General (Persian: سرلشکر)
Commands	Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
Battles / wars	Iran–Iraq War

Ahmdad Motevaselian (Persian: احمد متوسلیان) was an Iranian military attache and one of three Iranian diplomats (and a photographer) that disappeared in Lebanon in 1982. During the Iran-Iraq war, he was commander of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution and established the 27-Muhammad-Rasool-Allah Division. He had an important role in the Liberation of Khorramshahr and later, as part of a senior diplomatic group of political and military leaders, went to Syria to help the Lebanese people. On 5 July 1982, when the vehicle carrying the diplomats was passing through a checkpoint post on its way to Beirut, 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 (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.

Early life

Ahmad Motevaselian was born in a religious family in 1954 in the south of Tehran. He spent his primary school 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, the Shah of Iran. 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 for military service and participated in a special tank training course and was then dispatched to Sarpol-e Zahab. 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. In 1976, the SAVAK 'secret police' arrested him for his political activities. He was jailed for five months in solitary confinement in Falak-ol-Aflak Castle in Khorramabad. Motevaselian actively participated in the 1979 Revolution 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 Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.

After the Iranian Revolution

Following the successful revolt, Motevaselian engaged in various revolutionary political and military campaigns:

• The operations to purge Kurdistan Province from anti-revolutionaries
• Fighting anti-revolutionaries in Bokan, Baneh, and Saghez in 1979
• Liberation of Sanandaj in western Iran from anti-revolutionaries
• Liberation of Paveh-Kermanshah road in 1980
• Liberation of Marivan city in May 1980
• Liberation of Dezli heights
• Established the 27-Muhammad-Rasool-Allah Division
• Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas in 30 April 1982

Ahmad's orison before liberation of Khorramshahr

"O'Allah! Let it not be that our women and our Khorramshahr remain in the enemys' hands while Ahmad is still alive. O'Allah! Otherwise, please destinate my death."

Mission in Lebanon

After the Liberation of Khorramshahr, Motevaselian knew that Israel had invaded Lebanon. In June 1982, as part of a senior diplomatic group of political and military leaders he went to Syria to help the Lebanese people. On 5 July 1982, when the vehicle carrying the diplomats was passing through a checkpoint post on its way to Beirut, 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. They were seen for the last time at Barabara checkpoint, held by Lebanese forces, in a region controlled by Elie Hobeika. The missing diplomats are Motevaselian, military attaché and the head of the commandos of the June dispatch; Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, chargé d'affaires for the Iranian embassy in Beirut; and Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, the embassy technician; plus Kazem Akhavan, a journalist for Islamic Republic Press Agency. They disappeared in Lebanon during civil war and were delivered to the Israel military after interrogation.

The Lebanese militia forces headed by Samir Geagea was known for its close relation with Israel at the time and was responsible for transferring many Lebanese and foreigners to Israeli at the peak of the 1982 Lebanon War with Israel. Geagea has made contradictory statements concerning the missing diplomats, initially claiming that his militia handed them to Israel and later claiming that they witnessed them getting killed in Lebanon.

Eight years later Geagea said: "they had been killed on the orders of the group's intelligence chief, Elie Hobeika." 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, 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 (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 a mystery but it is generally assumed that they are dead.

Investigations

On the 31st anniversary of the abduction of the four diplomats, Ghazanfar Roknabadi, Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, stated: "we declared that we couldn't find any document which proves they have been killed here in Lebanon. All of the documents prove that they were transferred after they were kidnapped in Lebanon and have been transferred to Palestine. Also, he stated that the case is a "national and human" issue and called on the international community to exert more pressure on Israel to release the Iranian diplomats as soon as possible.

Israel has made contradictory statements concerning the Iranian diplomats. It initially claimed that the four diplomats were abducted by a Lebanese militant group and were killed shortly afterwards. But Israel has not released any information about the four missing Iranians.

Maryam Mojtahedzadeh, Mussavi's wife, condemned the "silence of the international community in the face of this crime. If they had a different nationality, there would have been an international outcry especially from human rights organizations. But since the Iranians and Israelis are involved, the international community has turned a blind eye". She also called on the Lebanese government and international organizations to adopt serious and effective measures to determine the fate of the four abductees. Also, Akhavan's family asked President Mohammad Khatami to help determine the fate of the photographer.

The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has said that the fate of the kidnapped Iranians was brought up in indirect negotiations for a prisoner exchange with the Israeli side after the 2006 war.

Adnan Mansour, Lebanese foreign minister, at a meeting with the families of the abducted Iranian diplomats said: "Beirut have sent the United Nations 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 is quoted by Iran’s Fars News Agency as telling U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting in New York: "Regarding the four abducted Iranian diplomats, there are documents that show they are alive and in the hands of the Zionist Regime." He also added that: "We expected U.N. Secretary General to take serious measures for their release."

The families of the abducted diplomats are urging the international community to take up responsibility and establish a fact-finding mission to help solve the decades-long case once and for all.

There is a documentary film that make with Press TV and narrated with Mussavi's sun. In the film, he described all investigations about Iranian diplomats and stated that they are alive but their fate is unknown.

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. A part of the book reads as follows:

He was born to a religious family. His father had no problem with him when he distributed revolutionary leaflets at nights or attended Quran commentary sessions in the mosque and returned home late, but no one in his family thought that a frail and diminishing figure like Ahmad, who had suffered heart problems from childhood and had undergone surgery once, could be interested in military affairs. Ahmad was in contact with religious groups who were seeking and fighting for an Islamic government. Besides propaganda these militia factions sometimes carried weapons. During his meetings with revolutionary comrades he had learned the theoretical and practical use of weapons or city partisan warfare and had attended a complete course…

Ahmad Motevaselian Memorial in Palestinian Borders

Statue of Ahmad Motevaselian installed in Maroun al-Ras (Arabic: مارون الراس), a Lebanese village nestled in Jabal Amel (Mount Amel) in the district of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in southern Lebanon. The statue in the Palestine borders is in order to be a memorial to show that the commander was kidnapped.

See also

• Iranian diplomats kidnapping (1982)
• Seyed Mohsen Mousavi
• Kazem Akhavan
• Taghi Rastegar Moghadam
• List of people who disappeared mysteriously

External links

Investigations documents for Iranian diplomats in mass media

1. Documentary film about investigations for Iranian diplomats (In English)
2. Missing Iranian diplomats case remains unsolved after 3 decades (08 July 2012) (In English)
3. Iranian diplomats still alive in Israeli jail (In English)
4. Iranian diplomats still alive in Israeli jail (In You tube) (In English)
5. Iran marks 29th anniversary of 4 diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon - Jul 10, 2011 (In English)

Ahmad Motevaselian picture gallery

• Ahmad Motevaselian pictures in Aviny website
• Ahmad Motevaselian pictures in Sajed website