Tehran criticizes Tripoli for not providing security for Iranian delegation

TEHRAN,Aug.4(MNA) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has severely censured the Libyan government for not providing security for Iranian delegation kidnapped in Libya. Speaking to the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency on Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian called on the relevant Libyan officials to take an immediate action to free the Iranian abductees. The Libyan Red Crescent said on Tuesday that armed men had kidnapped a seven-member delegation from the Iranian Red Crescent Society visiting the eastern city of Benghazi, Al Jazeera reported. “An armed group detained at 1:00 a.m. a delegation of seven members of the Iranian Red Crescent after they left the headquarters of the Libyan Red Crescent in Benghazi,” a statement from the organization said. The Iranians were heading to the Tibesti hotel when an armed group intercepted them. They were loaded into a different car and whisked away to an unknown location, the statement added. The driver of the vehicle, a local volunteer, was not taken. The delegation arrived in Libya on Monday at the invitation of the Libyan Red Crescent to discuss “various cooperation prospects in the field of humanitarian aid.” “The Libyan Red Crescent implores the group who detained the delegation to set them free in appreciation of the aid and support given by the Iranian Red Crescent during the February 17 revolution,” the statement said.