In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the UN Security Council Zenon Ngay Mukongo on the 44th anniversary of the abduction, Iran’s Ambassador Saeed Iravani said the four diplomats were kidnapped by Israeli-affiliated forces during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and occupation of Beirut in 1982.

In the letter on July 6, Iravani said the abduction violated international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

What follows is the text of his letter:

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Excellency,

Upon instructions from my Government, I am writing to you on the occasion of the forty- fourth anniversary of the abduction of four Iranian diplomats-Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi (Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Beirut), Ahmad Motevaselian (Military Attaché), Taghi Rastegar Moghadam (technical staff member), and Kazem Akhavan (from the Islamic Republic News Agency)-by Israeli-affiliated forces on 5 July 1982, during the Israeli regime's invasion of Lebanon and its military occupation of Beirut.

As detailed in Iran's earlier communications dated 7 July 2008 (A/62/899-S/2008/448), and dated 6 July 2023 (A/77/951-S/2023/501) this premeditated and unlawful act was not only a blatant violation of international law and a grave breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, but also constitutes an act of terrorism under the 1979 International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages. The Israeli regime's continued refusal to provide information regarding the fate and whereabouts of the abducted individuals constitutes a deliberate violation of its international obligations and amounts to a continuing act of enforced disappearance, inflicting prolonged psychological and emotional suffering on their families.

The Israeli regime, whose persistent disregard for the fundamental principles of international law and international humanitarian law is well documented, committed yet another grave violation on 8 March 2026 by conducting a deliberate terrorist attack against Iranian diplomats in Beirut (Lebanon). This attack resulted in the assassination of six diplomats of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This deliberate terrorist attack against Iranian diplomats in the capital of a sovereign state protected under international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, constitutes yet another flagrant violation of international law and a further manifestation of the regime's continued contempt for the most fundamental norms governing international relations. (Iran's letters addressed to the President of the Security Council and the UN Secretary General dated 5 March 2026 (S/2026/125), 10 March 2026 (A/80/669-S/2026/153), and 17 March 2026 (A/80/677-S/2026/194)).

These violations reveal a persistent and deliberate pattern by the Israeli regime, which acts with impunity, in defiance of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, and customary international norms governing the inviolability of diplomatic representatives and premises. Its ongoing disregard for binding legal obligations and peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens) poses a direct threat to international peace and security.

The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the Israeli regime and its enablers fully responsible for the abduction and hostage-taking of its nationals, as well as the assassination of its diplomats. Iran will continue to pursue this matter with the utmost seriousness through all relevant international legal and diplomatic mechanisms to ensure accountability.

I would be grateful if the present letter could be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration.