Tehran, April 20: Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar has said that the 12 Iranian engineers abducted in Afghanistan will be freed in the next two days, a senior lawmaker says.
The engineers, who were reportedly working for an Afghan road construction company, were seized by unknown men in the eastern Afghan province of Farah on Monday.
Mohammad-Najjar, reporting to the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission on Tuesday, dismissed allegations that the men in question were kidnapped by Taliban militants, the commission’s secretary, Fatemeh Alia, told IRNA.
The minister explained that the head of the border town where the engineers were operating opposed the men’s construction activities and ordered the locals to seize them and take them to a far-off location, she added.
The interior minister totally rejected the likelihood of any political intentions behind the engineers’ abduction and the involvement of the Taliban, Alia said.
She also said Mohammad-Najjar had reassured lawmakers that negotiations were underway with the kidnappers and the Iranians would be released within the next two days.
——-Agencies