Iran: ‘Retired’ Elite Soldiers Among 48 Hostages Held by Syria Rebels - World Watch
The State Department tells CBS News it has no reason to doubt Syrian rebels’ claims that 48 Iranians they are holding hostage are members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard military unit.
Iran has flatly denied the claim that the hostages are military personnel, insisting they are all civilians who were in Syria to visit the Sayyida Zainab shrine, south of Damascus, when they were abducted. The shrine has been frequented by Shiite Muslim pilgrims in the past, including many from Iran.
On Wednesday, however, Iran’s foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted by the Islamic Republic’s government-controlled media as saying, “some retired individuals from the Guards and army” were among those being held.