Saturday, August 15, 2026

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Majed Mohammed Al Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, rejected the Islamic Republic’s claim that three Iranian pilots had been detained, saying Qatari forces found the body of one pilot after searching the crash sites. In a post on X on Saturday, 24 Mordad, Al Ansari wrote that claims that Iranian pilots had been detained were “categorically” false. He said he was surprised that these statements had been made, particularly at a time when diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions in the region were continuing. The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that after the pilots in question entered Qatari airspace, contact was made with them and their flight path was reviewed and confirmed. He added that after the rules of engagement were followed and contact was made with the pilots without receiving a response, Qatar took the necessary steps to defend its territory in accordance with the requirements of international law. Al Ansari also said Qatar’s search-and-rescue teams had carried out a full operation to locate the pilots’ bodies. According to him, after one pilot’s body was found, the Qatari government contacted the Iranian side to coordinate its handover in accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law. He added that Qatar had invited a team in April to visit and receive information about the details of the search-and-rescue operation, but the Iranian side had not responded to the invitation so far. Earlier, the head of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces General Staff Missing Persons Search Committee claimed that three army pilots whose Su-24 fighter jets had crashed during the Esfand attacks had been captured by Qatari forces. Qatari officials rejected the claim and gave a different account of the pilots’ fate and the search-and-rescue operation after the fighter jets crashed. @VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the General Staff of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces, said in a letter that three Islamic Republic Air Force pilots whose Su-24 fighter jets crashed during the Esfand attacks were captured alive by Qatari forces. Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published the letter, which was addressed to the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to the letter, Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian, and Omran Behroushian have been held by Qatari forces for about six months. Bagherzadeh said the Qatari government has so far denied these three pilots permission to meet, speak with, or contact their families and the officials following up on their cases. Islamic Republic officials had previously said that, apart from Majid Kazemi, whose body was returned to Iran after the attack on Qatar, the status of the three other pilots involved in the operation remained unclear, and the available information about their fate was incomplete. @ VahidOnLive 📡 @VahidOnline

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Iran’s president called the recent price increases and their impact on people’s livelihoods “natural” on Saturday, 24 Mordad, and cited the U.S. economic blockade and oil sanctions as reasons. At a meeting with party secretaries-general and political activists, Masoud Pezeshkian said: “Previously, imported goods came in by ship; now they have to travel a long route to enter the country, which drives up their final cost.” He added: “Our income has also fallen. I used to sell oil; now we can’t.” The continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz has not only driven up global energy prices, but also put pressure on Iran’s economy and intensified inflation. Reports indicate that the implementation of the naval blockade has sharply reduced Iranian oil exports through Kharg Island. About 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports pass through the island. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Parliament and chief negotiator with the U.S., says talks with the U.S. stopped after a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli attack on southern Beirut. According to Iranian media, Ghalibaf said: “In the latest attack they carried out on Dahiyeh, when Hezbollah’s intelligence chief and his family were martyred, we stopped everything right then and there. We said, ‘Tonight, we’ll hit you like this and that, and if the Zionist regime responds, we’ll strike the entire region.’” According to Iran’s chief negotiator, “That same night, they lifted the blockade—not 30 days after the memorandum of understanding, that very night. Trump posted a tweet saying, ‘We’ll lift it tonight.’ Underneath, he wrote that the Iranians would also open the Strait of Hormuz. When I saw that, I stopped it and said, ‘We have no such agreement.’” “I told the mediators that if this tweet wasn’t taken down immediately, we’d strike with exactly the force I had described. Fifty-eight minutes later, Trump removed the second part and wrote that the Strait would open on Saturday under the terms of the memorandum of understanding.” “These negotiations mean struggle.” @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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🔴 Sepehr Amirzadeh, one of those detained during the nationwide protests in Dey 1404 in Isfahan, has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court on charges of “moharebeh” (waging war against God). His case is currently before the Supreme Court for review. 🔸 According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mr. Sepehr Amirzadeh was arrested by security forces at his home in Isfahan on 23 Dey 1404. After undergoing interrogation, he was transferred to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, where he remains incarcerated. 🔸 No further details have been released about the alleged conduct underlying the “moharebeh” charge, the evidence in the case, the interrogation process, or how the court hearings were conducted. Mr. Sepehr Amirzadeh, born in 1382 and originally from Ramhormoz, Khuzestan, is a music teacher and musician who lives in Isfahan. #NoToExecutions @IranRights

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Trump said Friday in New York, referring to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran: “They no longer have leadership. Their first tier is gone, their second tier is gone, and half of their third tier is gone.” He added that this situation had also made negotiations with the Islamic Republic difficult: “One of my problems is that there’s nobody to negotiate with.” Trump then said mockingly that Iran was “the only country in the world where nobody wants to be president.” The U.S. president also claimed that the Islamic Republic’s radar systems and advanced intelligence equipment had been destroyed, and that Iran’s missile production capacity had fallen by 82 percent. He said the Islamic Republic still had some missiles and drones, but that these constituted only a small fraction of Iran’s previous capabilities, and that its capacity to produce them had also been severely damaged. Elsewhere in his remarks, Trump attacked media reports about the situation in Iran. Referring to inflation and the falling value of the rial, he said claims that the Islamic Republic was performing well in the war did not square with the country’s economic realities. The Islamic Republic’s foreign minister said in an interview with Shahrara News on Saturday, 24 Mordad, that no negotiations were underway between Iran and the United States and that Tehran had not yet decided whether to resume talks. Abbas Araghchi said Qatar and Pakistan were in contact with Tehran and Washington and were exchanging messages between the two sides, but that these communications did not mean negotiations had begun. The foreign minister also rejected reports of a “60-day ceasefire.” According to him, the Islamabad memorandum of understanding referred to an “end to the war” and set a 60-day deadline for talks on a final agreement—not a ceasefire that now needed to be extended. Araghchi also described the Tehran-Muscat talks as “technical and specialized,” saying Iran and Oman were working to establish new maritime routes for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The armed forces of both countries are also taking part in the talks. He said a temporary route would be established first, and could serve as the basis for a final route. Araghchi stressed, however, that establishing a shipping route and reopening the Strait of Hormuz were two separate issues. He said reopening the waterway was contingent on the United States meeting the Islamic Republic’s conditions. @VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Trump: I will declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory Speaking at an event with law enforcement officers on Long Island, New York, U.S. President Donald Trump said: “Once we finish defeating Iran—which is already being defeated badly—we’ll soon declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory. That’s essentially what this is about: We control the blockade, and no ship will pass through unless we want it to.” @VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline