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Qatar categorically denied on Saturday it was detaining any Iranian pilots after an Iranian general said Doha should release three aviators shot down early in the Iran war.

“We categorically deny the claims circulating regarding the detention of Iranian pilots & are surprised by these misleading statements at this particular time, amid the ongoing diplomatic efforts & initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions in the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on X.

Qatar rescuers “carried out their duties to the fullest” searching for the pilots, he added.

It had “communicated with the Iranian side to coordinate the handover of the remains of one of the pilots who was found,” said Al-Ansari.

“Qatar also issued an invitation for an Iranian team to visit Qatar to be briefed on the details of the search & rescue operations in April, but the Iranian side has yet to respond to the invitation,” he added.

General Mohammad Bagherzadeh of the Iranian armed forces claimed earlier that three Iranian pilots were captured alive by Qatari forces after their Su-24 fighter jets crashed during the war, Fars news agency reported.

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Gharibabadi also warned Trump he could not hope to ‘seize the Hormuz’ by ‘aircraft carrier or election speech’, referring to the President’s many attempts to fashion an end to a war that began in February with joint US-Israel strikes.

The exchange was prompted by Trump’s comments Friday at a New York event.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s Flores region on Saturday has brought fresh attention to the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, the vast zone around the Pacific Ocean where major tectonic plates meet, and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are particularly common.

The powerful quake struck at 5:58 am local time at a depth of about 10 kilometres, with its epicentre about 68 kilometres (42 miles) north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Indonesia’s disaster management agency said at least 47 people were killed, while dozens more were injured. Read more

Two American Airlines planes had a close call on Friday after they were mistakenly assigned the same flight number. A quick-acting air traffic controller in Phoenix stepped in and kept the planes apart, according to Associated Press (AP).

An audio clip from the air traffic controller recorded just after midnight indicates how the controller worked out a way to keep the two planes safely apart. One plane was arriving from Chicago just as the other, also using flight number American 2482, was taking off from Phoenix.

A spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry has denied claims that it detained three Iranian pilots, after Tehran called for their release.

“We are surprised by the misleading statements regarding the Iranian pilots amid the continuation of diplomatic efforts,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier, the Iranian armed forces said that three pilots had been captured by Qatar after their SU-24 jets had crashed during the early days of the US-Israeli war on Iran, adding that they had been held for six months.