Kidnapped Iranian engineers in good health

Iran's Ambassador to Syria Mohammad Reza Sheibani said that the seven Iranian engineers kidnapped by terrorists in Syria in December are in good health conditions and will be freed soon. "Given the contacts and links that we have established with Syrian authorities and officials in charge of the internal affairs and other influential parties, it has been revealed that theses individuals are healthy," Sheibani told FNA in Damascus. He expressed the hope for the rapid freedom of the kidnapped Iranian nationals in Syria. Five of the seven Iranians were kidnapped by unknown armed gunmen on their way to the 450-MW power plant in the troubled Syrian city of Homs on December 21. The technicians have been building the city's Jandar power plant for the past two years. The two other Iranians were abducted one day after the initial kidnapping while on a mission to establish the whereabouts of the missing engineers. Iranians have become the target of abduction by unknown gunmen in Syria over the past months. In January, a group of gunmen in Syria had kidnapped 11 Iranian pilgrims traveling by road from Turkey to Damascus. The kidnapped nationals were released in February thanks to the efforts made by the Iranian and Turkish officials.