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IRGC Retracts Statements Confirming Death of Leader Kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982

Portraits of the four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982. (Reuters)
Portraits of the four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982. (Reuters)
    London, Iran – Asharq Al-Awsat
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IRGC Retracts Statements Confirming Death of Leader Kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982

Portraits of the four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982. (Reuters)
Portraits of the four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982. (Reuters)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps retracted its confirmation of the killing of the military attaché, Ahmad Motevaselian, who disappeared in Beirut 41 years ago.

IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif said they still have no reliable information regarding the condition and fate of Motevaselian and his companions, who were kidnapped in northern Lebanon in 1982.

Last Saturday, the head of the IRGC, Hossein Salami, visited the Motevaselian family. After the visit, many news outlets published excerpts from the statement, saying it was an official confirmation of the commander's fate.

However, Sharif asserted on Monday that certain media misunderstood his remarks.

The spokesman pointed out that the case of the four Iranians kidnapped by the Lebanese Forces at the Barbara checkpoint on July 4, 1982, remains open and is being followed up legally.

Motevaselian was accompanied by Kazem Akhavan, a military affairs correspondent for the official news agency (IRNA), and Taghi Rastegar Moghaddam, IRGC training supervisor, and consul Mohsen Mosavi.

Sharif said Salami described Motevaselian as a "martyr with a trace," the term for missing soldiers.

The case of Motevaselian, the most prominent IRGC field commander during the early years of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, is one of the open issues in relations between Iran and Lebanon.

Iranian authorities insist on naming the abducted "the four diplomats" without identifying the nature of Motevaselian's duties in Beirut during that period.

The Sabreen News channel, affiliated with the IRGC’s Quds Force, stated that several bodies were exchanged years ago with the Lebanese Forces, noting that Motevaselian's body was handed over to Iran. However, DNA tests did not match that of the missing commander.

Before Sharif's statement, the IRGC-affiliated Sobheno newspaper wrote in its editorial on Monday that Motevaselian's case was abandoned because of the mismanagement and incompetence of the diplomatic missions at the time. His death was confirmed 41 years after he went missing.

The newspaper saw that the confirmation of Motavasslian's death ended all speculation, rumors, and theories about his fate.

Sazandegi newspaper reported that slain commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, had previously revealed that the four officials "were killed on the night of their kidnapping."

The newspaper also cited the account slain Elie Hobeika's bodyguard Robert Hatem, known as Cobra, who was then in charge of the Barbara checkpoint. Hatem said he pointed his gun at the head of one of the four Iranians and killed him after he got out of his car.

In 1999, Hatem wrote in his memoirs that the four diplomats were all shot dead and buried in the Karantina area in eastern Beirut, in the basements of the security building of the Lebanese Forces led by Hobeika.

Motevaselian was the commander of the 27th Brigade, one of IRGC's most prominent field units, which fought fierce battles against the Kurdish opposition before he was dispatched to Beirut to train Hezbollah forces during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.

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Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)

Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a deadline next week suspending America's refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.

Thousands of refugees who fled war and persecution and had gone through a sometimes yearslong process to start new lives in America are now stranded at various locations worldwide. That includes more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted America's war effort, as well as relatives of active-duty US military personnel.

President Donald Trump paused the refugee resettlement program this week as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration. His move had left open the possibility that refugees who had been screened to come to the US and had flights booked before the Jan. 27 deadline might be able to get in under the wire.

But in an email dated Tuesday and reviewed by The Associated Press, the US agency overseeing refugee processing and arrivals told staff and stakeholders that "refugee arrivals to the United States have been suspended until further notice."

There are a little more than 10,000 refugees from around the world who had already gone through the lengthy refugee admission process and had travel scheduled over the next few weeks, according to a document obtained by the AP. It was not immediately clear how many of those had been set to arrive by upcoming deadline.

Among those are more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to come to the US as part of the program that the Biden administration set up after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Many veterans of America's longest war have tried for years to help Afghans they worked with, in addition to their families, find refuge in the US. Many were prepared for a suspension of the resettlement program but had hoped for special consideration for the Afghans.

"The Trump administration’s early pause of refugee flights is alarming, leaving thousands of Afghan allies in fear and uncertainty," said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. "We are ready to partner to fix this and urge clear communication with impacted families. Let’s honor our promises and uphold America’s values."

There is a separate path — the special immigrant visa program— specifically for Afghans who worked directly with the US government. VanDiver's group said that program, set up by Congress, did not appear to be affected at this time.

Trump's order signed Monday had given the State Department a week before it began to halt all processing and traveling. It appears the timing was moved up, though it was not immediately clear what prompted the change.

The State Department referred questions to the White House.

Agencies that help refugees settle and adjust to life in America have argued that this is the type of legal immigration that Trump and his supporters say they like and have pointed to the stringent background checks and sometimes yearslong wait that refugees endure before setting foot in America.

"This abrupt halt to refugee admissions is devastating for families who have already endured unimaginable hardship and waited years for the chance to rebuild their lives in safety," Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Global Refuge, one of the 10 US resettlement agencies, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Refugees go through one of the most rigorous vetting processes in the world, and many are now seeing their travel canceled just days, or even hours, before they were set to begin their new lives in the United States," she said. "It’s utterly heartbreaking."

Refugees are distinct from people who come directly to the US-Mexico border with the goal of eventually seeking asylum. Refugees must be living outside of the US to be considered for resettlement and are usually referred to the State Department by the United Nations.

While the resettlement program has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, the first Trump administration also temporarily halted resettlement and then lowered the number of refugees who could enter the country annually.