Three Iranian diplomats and a journalist were abducted in Lebanon in 1982 and have never been found. Through 2015 the opening carried Israel's own account, that it believed the diplomats were kidnapped by a Lebanese militant group and executed shortly after their abduction. That account is gone from the opening today, though militant survives once elsewhere in the article, and the opening now states instead that Iranian officials believe the diplomats were handed over to Israel and are still alive and held in Israeli territory. A reader today learns Iran's unverified claim that Israel holds the diplomats, and not Israel's own on-record explanation that a Lebanese militant group killed them.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2015
Three Iranian diplomats and one Iranian photographer disappeared in Lebanon during the invasion of Lebanon . Their fate was never determined and it is presumed they are dead. Iran has accused Israel of kidnapping and holding them in Israeli jails, and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to clarify their whereabouts. Israel has said it does not know what happened to the diplomats and that it believes that they were kidnapped by a Lebanese militant group and executed shortly after their abduction. It was believed that they were then buried at a site where construction later obliterated their graves. Iranians kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982 in Israel: Ahmadinejad Lebanon: Hezbollah prisoner swap marks 'failure' for Israel1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 656717676.
The opening as it stood in 2010
During the invasion of Lebanon on July 4, 1982, four Iranian diplomats were reportedly kidnapped by militiamen and Israeli forces at an inspection point for the Lebanese Forces in north Lebanon. Their fate was never determined and it is presumed they are dead. The reported missing diplomats are: Ahmad Motevaselian Seyed Mohsen Mousavi Taghi Rastegar Moghadam Kazem Akhavan Iran called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to clarify the whereabouts of four Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon. Israel has said it does not know what happened to the diplomats and it is believed that they were executed and buried at a site where construction later obliterated their graves.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 363159036.
The opening as it stood in 2020 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Three Iranian diplomats as well as a reporter of Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982.None of them have been seen since.The missing individuals are Ahmad Motevaselian , military attaché for Iran's embassy in Beirut; Seyed Mohsen Mousavi , chargé d'affaires at the embassy; Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, an embassy employee; and Kazem Akhavan, IRNA photojournalist.Motevaselian was also an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) member in command of an Iranian expeditionary force in Lebanon.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963390652.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1982 unsolved kidnapping incident during the Lebanese Civil War Three Iranian diplomats as well as a reporter for Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982. None of them have been seen since. The missing individuals are Ahmad Motevaselian , military attaché for Iran's embassy in Beirut; Seyed Mohsen Mousavi , chargé d'affaires at the embassy; Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, an embassy employee; and Kazem Akhavan, IRNA photojournalist. Motevaselian was also an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) member in command of an Iranian expeditionary force in Lebanon. They were stopped at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon by the Lebanese Forces commanded by Samir Geagea .Speculation about their fate has circulated since their abduction.Iranian officials believe that they were handed over to Israel after they were kidnapped and are still alive and being held in Israeli territory.Israel said that the diplomats were captured by militia under Elie Hobeika .The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that the diplomats were believed to be executed by Phalange shortly after their abduction.Geagea as well as Hobeika's bodyguard Robert Hatem also said that they were executed while under the Phalange's custody.The diplomats' disappearance is regularly commemorated in Iran.Both the Iranian and Lebanese governments have tried to gain information about their whereabouts.According to Nazih Mansour , former member of the Lebanese parliament, the case has turned into a political issue, rather than a judicial one since some of the involved people such as Samir Geagea have become political figures.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1168647930.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Unsolved kidnapping incident during the Lebanese Civil War Three Iranian diplomats as well as a reporter for Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982. None of them have been seen since. The missing individuals are Ahmad Motevaselian , military attaché for Iran's embassy in Beirut; Seyed Mohsen Mousavi , chargé d'affaires at the embassy; Taghi Rastegar Moghadam, an embassy employee; and Kazem Akhavan, IRNA photojournalist. Motevaselian was also an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) member in command of an Iranian expeditionary force in Lebanon. They were stopped at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon by the Lebanese Forces commanded by Samir Geagea . Speculation about their fate has circulated since their abduction. Iranian officials believe that they were handed over to Israel after they were kidnapped and are still alive and being held in Israeli territory. Israel said that the diplomats were captured by militia under Elie Hobeika . The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that the diplomats were believed to be executed by Phalange shortly after their abduction. Geagea as well as Hobeika's bodyguard Robert Hatem also said that they were executed while under the Phalange's custody. The diplomats' disappearance is regularly commemorated in Iran. Both the Iranian and Lebanese governments have tried to gain information about their whereabouts. According to Nazih Mansour , former member of the Lebanese parliament, the case has turned into a political issue, rather than a judicial one since some of the involved people such as Samir Geagea have become political figures.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1273622310. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
militant
0
1
0
0
0
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 6 October 2023.
Then
reportedly kidnapped by militiamen and israeli forces at an inspection point for the lebanese forces in north l
Now
bducted in lebanon on 4 july 1982
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
