The United States is providing "insufficient" information on the fate of two Iranian pilots who disappeared after their helicopter crashed in the Arabian Gulf, the foreign ministry said Monday.
The Pentagon last week denied Iranian reports that a US ship had retrieved the two men after the crash late last Tuesday near an installation in the Gulf's giant South Pars gas field.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi, cited by the official news agency IRNA, said Tehran had already twice asked Switzerland, which represents US interests here, for information about the fate of the men.
"But the information was insufficient and that's why we are still pursuing the matter," he said.
Two passengers on board were rescued unharmed and a third was hospitalized with leg injuries in the accident. No cause has yet been given for the crash.
On Saturday the oil ministry sent a search vessel to the region to look for the two pilots.
The head of Iran's helicopter services, Norollah Rezaei Niaraki, said last week he had evidence to prove the men had been rescued at sea and were still alive - TEHRAN (AFP)
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