‘Iranian engineers forced into confession’

The abductors of the seven Iranian engineers, who were taken in Syria’s restive city of Homs last month, are reportedly seeking to link their prisoners to the ongoing unrest in Syria, Press TV reports.

The kidnapers — believed to be affiliated to Syria’s U.S-backed and financed armed rebels, Free Syrian Army — intend to force the abductees to confess that they had come to Syria to stage an operation against the Syrian nation.

This comes as MAPNA Group, a group of Iranian companies involved in the construction and installation of energy production machinery, released a statement in which it stated that the abducted technicians were involved in an electricity project in Syria, and had nothing to do with the political conflict in the country.

Syria’s Deputy Electricity Minister Hisham Mashfej has also confirmed that the seven Iranian nationals were electrical technicians, dismissing allegations that they were linked to the Syrian turmoil.

Five Iranian electrical engineers were abducted at 6:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) on December 21 after a group of unknown gunmen attacked their convoy in Homs. They were on their way to work at the city’s Jandar power plant, which has been under construction by Iranian technicians for the past two years.

Two more Iranian specialists, who were trying to determine the fate of the five abducted engineers, have been also kidnapped and there has been no immediate report on their whereabouts.

Iran’s Embassy in Damascus has issued a statement, calling on the Syrian government to take immediate measures to gain the release of the Iranian abductees and identify their kidnappers.

On December 26, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem assured his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi that Damascus would do its best to locate the kidnapped Iranians in the shortest possible time and return them to their families.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March.

While the West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of the killings, Damascus blames ”outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest that erupted in mid-March, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

In interviews with israeli news outlets over the past few months, the Syrian U.S-backed and financed armed rebels have clearly expressed their vision for the future of Syria and their interest in establishing relations with the Tel Aviv regime.

However, Syrian people have repeatedly expressed solidarity with the government.