DAMASCUS/ TEHRAN, (SANA) – Director of Public Relaitons and Marketing at Iran's MAPNA Group, Bahnam Hakiki, affirmed on Friday that the seven Iranians abducted in Syria in September 2011 are engineers working on the construction of an electric plant, and that the cards they carry are military service discharge cards.

Hakiki said that the seven engineers were abducted while working on the Jandal electric power plant near Homs, and that they were never military personnel and that the cards they carry simply show that they completed their military service, adding that all Iranians who finished mandatory military service carry such cards.

He stressed that anything these people said or will say in the future is a result of coercion under pressure, noting that Sajad Amirian who appeared on al-Jazeera and showed his card to the camera is in charge of electric installations at the plant, and that all documents proving this are available.

"It's very clear that they were under pressure when they made these statements… everybody knows that when someone is in the hands of kidnappers, he can be made to say anything," he added.

MAPNA Group is an Iranian group of Iranian companies involved in construction and installation of energy production.

Earlier on Thursday, the Media Attaché at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus refuted al-Jazeera's allegations that the Iranians are affiliated with the Iranian military.

Terrorist Group Kidnaps 11 Iranian Visitors between Aleppo and Hama

An armed terrorist group on Thursday kidnapped 11 Iranian visitors who were on their way from Aleppo to Damascus.

SANA correspondent was informed that the terrorist group blocked the Iranian visitors' vehicle between Aleppo and Hama and kidnapped them.

The Iranian IRNA news agency quoted Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying that the Iranians were on their way to visit the holy religious places in Damascus when an armed group kidnapped them.

The spokesman called on the kidnappers to release the Iranian visitors as soon as possible.

For his part, Director of Iranian Hajj and Pilgrimage Office in Syria Mas'oud Ikhwan said the 11 Iranians were kidnapped by gunmen who blocked the vehicle which was transporting them between Aleppo and Hama.

H. Said / H. Sabbagh