Turkey responsible for safety of Iranian abductees: Senior official

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdullahian says the Islamic Republic holds Turkey responsible for the safety of the Iranian pilgrims kidnapped in Syria.

Earlier, Reuters reported that three of the Iranian pilgrims, who were kidnapped by armed insurgents near the Syrian capital of Damascus, had been killed.

The so-called Free Syrian Army has threatened to kill the rest of the pilgrims if the Syrian military does not stop attacking them.

Forty-eight Iranian pilgrims, who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, were abducted by insurgents on August 4.