Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 8 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi has said that there are some elder former IRGC and Iranian army members among the kidnapped pilgrims in Syria, ISNA reported.
A busload of 48 Iranians was seized by the Syrian rebels on Saturday.
Tehran says they were pilgrims visiting a Shi'ite Muslim shrine, denying suggestions that they were military personnel helping Assad put down the rebellion.
Salehi underscored that those people are retirement pensioners from the various ministries, who went on a pilgrimage, from Iran to Syria.
A Syrian rebel spokesman said on Monday that three of the Iranians had been killed in a government air strike and the rest would be executed if the attacks did not stop.