BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Monday that security agencies are looking into reports that five Iranians kidnapped in Syria last year were transferred to north Lebanon.

Charbel spoke to The Daily Star hours after he received Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi at the Interior Ministry where the envoy brought up the issue.

“The ambassador presented the information to us, we studied the matter and we will coordinate with the Iranian Ambassador [in light of any developments],” Charbel said.

Last month, Tehran’s English-language Press TV quoted a source in north Lebanon saying that five Iranian technicians kidnapped in the Syrian city of Homs in December had been moved to north Lebanon.

The source, according to the Iranian channel, was a tribal figure in north Lebanon who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Roknabadi said he discussed the news about transferring the kidnapped technicians from Syria to Lebanon with Charbel “to check whether it is true or not.”

“We heard about this news and we asked the Lebanese government to follow up on this issue, and to take the necessary measures to release them if the news turns out to be accurate,” he added.