Although news stories on the 29 Iranians kidnaped over three months in Syria have sometimes been garbled, it appears that 20 have been freed and nine remain in captivity.
Seven engineers were taken captive in December and they all remain in captivity.
Eleven male pilgrims were taken from a bus in January. Five were freed last month and another four this week, apparently leaving two in captivity.
Another 11 male pilgrims were taken off a bus February 1 and all were freed just six days later.
No one has been kidnaped since February 1.
The Turkish government has been trying to work through the Syrian rebel council that is based in Syria to win the release of the Iranians, but not all rebel bands respond to the council.
The Syrian rebels suspect any and all Iranians of helping President Bashar al-Assad repress the rebellion. The rebels charged that the men taken captive in December all had military cards, proving they were Iranian agents. But Iran said those were the discharge papers that all Iranian men carry with them so they are not hauled into a police station when they are stopped and questioned about whether they have done their military service.
The seven men taken in December were all engineers working on an electrical generating plant in Homs. Iran said they had gone to Homs long before the Syrian uprising erupted one year ago.
