Seven Iranian nationals, who were recently abducted in Syria, are in good health and have been transferred to an area in western Syria, Press TV quoted an unnamed senior Syrian security official as saying.
The source rejected earlier reports that the Iranian professionals were being kept in the city of Homs in western Syria and said that they had been transferred to an area west of Talbiseh in the province of Homs.
He added that the Syrian security forces had not raided the whereabouts since any attack could put the safety of the abductees at risk.
On Wednesday, December 21, eight technicians, including five Iranian electrical engineers, were kidnapped on their way to a power plant.
Two more Iranian specialists, who were trying to clarify the fate of the five abducted engineers, have been also kidnapped.
Iran's Embassy in Damascus has issued a statement, calling on the Syrian government to take immediate action for the release of the abductees and identify the kidnappers.
The technicians have been building the city's Jandar power plant for the past two years.
Some Syrian security officials have contacted the head of the abductors, who are known as 'al-Haji,' to learn their conditions for the release of the Iranians, the Syrian official said.
The kidnappers want to exchange the Iranian professionals with some of the leaders of anti-government armed groups, who have been arrested during clashes with Syrian security forces, and also ask for safe passage in the city of Homs, particularly in the Baba Amr district, for anti-government armed men so they can leave, he added.
The abductors have so far failed to use the hostages to their advantage, having found out that the abductees were only engineers and technicians and had no political affiliation.