At his weekly press briefing, Baghaei responded to a question about the fate of four Iranian pilots who were targeted during a defensive mission in the early days of the war the 40-day US and Zionist regime launched on Feb. 28th. He said the Foreign Ministry had been following up on their status since the very beginning.
He noted that one of the pilots had returned to Iran, while the fate of the other three remained unclear. Until definitive information is obtained, he said, Iran’s assumption is that they were taken captive.
Baghaei said the Foreign Ministry’s first correspondence with the International Committee of the Red Cross was sent on March 15 or 16. At the same time, the Iranian Embassy in Doha and the Foreign Ministry began pursuing the matter through the Qatari Embassy in Tehran. According to him, the issue has also been raised during various meetings and telephone conversations with Qatari officials.
The spokesman stressed that Iran’s demand from Qatar is simply to clarify the status of the pilots, adding that Tehran would make use of bilateral, multilateral and legal mechanisms in pursuing the matter.
MNA