Iran Continues Attacks and Claims: '3 Pilots Who Crashed in Qatar Are Held Captive'

Iran claims Qatar is holding three of its pilots captive, whose Su-24 aircraft crashed in Qatar on March 2. Meanwhile, Iran attacked a third ADNOC vessel in the Strait of Hormuz within a week, responding to Trump's remarks on annexing the strait. Trump contradicted his deputy Vance, who said opening the strait is the main goal, and said that paying higher fuel prices is a worthy price to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Iran claimed this afternoon (Saturday) that Qatar is holding three of its fighter pilots captive, whose aircraft crashed in the Gulf principality during the war. The commander of the Iranian army's committee for locating missing persons, Baqer Zadeh, said the aircraft, Su-24 models, were shot down during strikes, and that the pilots – Javad Salehi, Abd al-Majid Dashtian, and Omran Behroushian – have been held captive for six months. He accused the Qatari government of preventing contact with their families, and noted that Iran has approached the Red Cross. Doha has not yet responded. Meanwhile, tensions continue in the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE announced that a vessel of the ADNOC company was attacked yesterday while attempting to cross the strait – the third attack this week. Trump promised at a rally in New York to declare Hormuz "American territory" after a victory over Iran, but his deputy Vance said opening the strait is "goal #1". Trump himself said that a higher fuel price is a worthy price to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The price of gasoline in the US stands at $4.08 per gallon, a 29% jump compared to last year.