Iran regards missing Su-24 pilots captured until their fate is clarified: FM spox

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says the country assumes the missing Su-24 pilots were captured as long as their fate remains unclear, adding that Iran is using all available channels to determine their status.

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Monday, Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran maintains regular contacts with Qatar and has conveyed its concerns and considerations to the Qatari side regarding reports that the pilots were captured by the Arab country.

“The demand for clarification of the status of the four brave Iranian pilots who were heading to carry out a defensive operation to target the source of US aggression is serious, and we have been pursuing the issue since the day we became aware of it,” he said.

Baghaei said he was with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi when they learned about the pilots’ situation during the first days of the war, adding that efforts to determine their whereabouts were immediately put on the agenda.

He said Iran made its first correspondence with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on March 16 and that the Iranian Embassy had also begun following up on the matter from those early days.

Iran says Qatar captured three pilots during recent war; urges ICRC to pursue their case

An Iranian commander calls on International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to urgently follow up on the status of three Iranian pilots captured by Qatari forces.

“As long as their status remains unclear, it is assumed that they have been captured, and we are using all available capacities to determine the status of the pilots,” Baghaei said.

“I clearly state that from the very first days, pursuing the status of these four pilots has been on the agenda. They were heading to carry out a defensive operation,” he added.

In direct response to unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against Iran, which began on February 28, two IRIAF Su-24 bombers successfully penetrated advanced enemy radar networks and sophisticated air defense systems to bombard the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a primary hub for US military forces in West Asia.

During their return journey over the Persian Gulf, the Iranian aircraft were targeted and struck by enemy air defense systems.

Despite the heavy anti-aircraft fire, the mission was successfully executed, delivering a powerful message of deterrence to the aggressors.

The Iranian Army confirmed the martyrdom of Second Brigadier General pilot Majid Kazemi, one of the pilots of an Iranian Air Force Su-24 fighter jet, following specialized forensic examinations and DNA testing.

On Saturday, Commander of the Missing-in-Action Search Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff said the three other pilots — Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Emran Behrouzian — were captured alive by Qatari forces.

Enemies’ miscalculation of Iranian people’s resolve

Speaking about the anniversary of the August 19, 1953 coup, Baghaei said it was one of the darkest chapters in Iran’s contemporary history and a costly experience of foreign intervention in the country’s internal affairs.

He added that the event demonstrated the consequences of the US interventionist approach, which led to the removal of a legitimate government that had emerged from the will of the Iranian people.

He said the consequences of the coup continued to affect Iran’s foreign relations and subsequent developments for years and remain visible today.

“We also witnessed the same miscalculation during the imposed war and the two recent wars over the past year: the assumption that Iran could be confronted and its destiny determined through pressure, threats, intervention and intimidation, and that its will could be subdued,” Baghaei said.

He said such miscalculations have had serious consequences for Iran, the region and the world, adding that Iran today has accumulated decades of experience in resisting foreign intervention, war, sanctions and pressure.

60-Day deadline not applicable

Baghaei said there was no provision for a 60-day deadline in the text of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding whose expiration has been discussed.

“Iran is not a party that formulates its policies under pressure or within a deadline. We make decisions based on our national interests and assessments,” he said.

He said the MoU had called for negotiations on the nuclear issue within 60 days, but Iran had not begun such negotiations.

“The United States violated the understanding from the very beginning, and the issue of a 60-day deadline is not applicable,” Baghaei said.

Iran will use all means to respond to any hostile act

Commenting on US threats to impose further economic pressure on Iran, Baghaei said sanctions had had no effect.

Baghaei noted that over the past 50 years, the United States had trapped itself in a cycle of sanctions and pressure and had repeatedly used the concept of “crippling sanctions.”

“But what did they gain from it? They proved their own inhumane nature,” he said.

He added that methods previously tested by Washington without producing results would not yield different outcomes in the future.

“Iran will use all means to respond to any hostile act,” Baghaei said.

Iran calls out France's diplomatic abuses, rejects fabricated allegations

Iran

French officials expected to apologize

Regarding actions by French diplomats against Iran, Baghaei said: “What is important to us, regardless of the legal status of the individuals, is the position expressed as a government.”

Baghaei said Iranian authorities had expected French officials to apologize over the incident, noting that French officials themselves had acknowledged that the two individuals were not diplomats but agents.

He said the French side had stated that the two individuals were assisting Iranian civil society, adding that such activity was not consistent with international law.

“This itself is an admission that the Vienna Convention was violated,” Baghaei said.

In a statement on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said its forces had discovered the presence of two French diplomats at a secret meeting while carrying out a judicial order to arrest two suspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference.

The ministry warned France against interfering in the country’s internal affairs, saying Paris must answer for the illegal activities of its diplomats.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart on Tuesday, protested the “unconventional” conduct of two French diplomats in Tehran, calling their actions unacceptable.

Araqchi said compliance with the laws and regulations of the host country and adherence to recognized diplomatic principles and norms are essential for the continued operation of foreign diplomatic missions, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

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