In separate telephone conversations with the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, and the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday, Salehi urged Qatar and Turkey to help secure the release of Iranian nationals abducted in Syria.
The Turkish foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart that Ankara will continue efforts to secure the release of the abductees.
In another telephone call to his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem on Saturday, Salehi also underlined the need for serious pursuit of abductees’ release.
On August 4, 48 Iranian pilgrims who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) on the outskirts of Damascus, were abducted by foreign-backed members of the terrorist Free Syrian Army (FSA).
In a video aired by the Saudi-owned television network Al-Arabiya this week, the insurgents threatened to kill all of the Iranian abductees if the Syrian government did not release captured anti-government insurgents and if it did not stop operations against armed groups in the country within 48 hours.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast also censured the prolonged captivity of the Iranians on Saturday urging their immediate release.
He added that the kidnappers and their allies are responsible for the safety of the Iranian abductees in Syria.
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