Iran seeks answers on missing Su-24 pilots
Iran says it believes the fate of four missing Sukhoi Su-24 pilots remains unresolved and is treating them as captured until their status is clarified. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran is in contact with Qatar and has also reached out to the Red Cross and other channels to determine what happened to the pilots, who were on what he described as a defensive mission. Iranian officials say one pilot was confirmed killed after forensic testing, while three others were reported captured alive by Qatari forces.
Baghaei also linked the issue to wider tensions with the United States and Israel, saying Iran’s recent experience shows that pressure, threats and intervention cannot determine the country’s direction. He cited past foreign intervention, including the 1953 coup, as a warning against attempts to shape Iran’s internal affairs from outside. On nuclear diplomacy, he rejected the idea of a 60-day deadline tied to the Islamabad memorandum, saying Iran does not set policy under pressure and that the United States broke the understanding from the start.
On sanctions, Baghaei said Washington’s economic pressure has repeatedly failed and only exposed its own harsh approach. He said Iran would respond to any hostile act by any means necessary. He also criticized French diplomats over what Tehran described as illegal conduct, saying Iranian authorities expected an apology and viewed the incident as a violation of diplomatic rules. Tehran says French officials admitted the people involved were not diplomats but agents, and Iran warned Paris against interfering in its domestic affairs.
