Iran says Qatar is holding three of its pilots who went missing in March Iran said on Saturday that Qatar was holding three of its pilots who had been missing since March. The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of attacking a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iran-backed Houthis again struck a Red Sea port in Yemen.
In southern Lebanon, nine people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, some of the deadliest since a shaky truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went into effect on June 20. Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
According to the Missing Persons Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, Qatar's armed forces had captured and were holding three pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed. Until now, Tehran had said it had no information about their fate. Saturday's statement alleged that Qatar had violated the men's rights by not allowing the prisoners to meet or communicate with their families or with Iranian officials handling their cases, despite diplomatic efforts and repeated follow-ups.
There was no immediate response from Qatar. The tanker owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil and gas company ADNOC was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the Emirati state-run WAM news agency said Saturday. There were no injuries in the Friday evening attack, the agency reported.
It was the third such attack on a vessel operated by ADNOC in the critical waterway in the last week. The United Arab Emirates in a statement called on Iran to stop the unprovoked strikes. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a bulk carrier was struck in the hull by an unknown projectile on Friday.
It was not immediately clear if it was the same vessel. Iran asserted control over the strait after the war started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before then.
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