Iranian passengers 'probably not terrorists', says Interpol

A Malaysian police woman holds up a picture of a 19-year-old Iranian, identified by Malaysian police as Pouria Nour Muhammad Mehrdad, who boarded the now missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 with a stolen passport, during a press conference, Tuesday, March 11, 2014 in Sepang, Malaysia. One of the two men traveling on a missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner was an Iranian asylum seeker, officials said Tuesday, as baffled authorities expanded their search for the Boeing 777 on the opposite side of the country from where it disappeared nearly four days ago with 239 people on board.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Interpol has released the names of two Iranians who were travelling on stolen passports aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, saying they were “probably not terrorists.” Addressing a press conference in the French city of Lyon, Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble gave the men’s names as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 18, and Delavar Seyedmohammadreza, 29.

The men first used their Iranian passports to travel from Doha to Kuala Lumpur, and then boarded the Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 using stolen Austrian and Italian passports, he said.

Malaysian police earlier named the man travelling on the Austrian passport as Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, 19. Interpol gave his birthday as April 30, 1995.

Speculation over a possible terrorist attack and lax security by airlines was waning “as the belief becomes more certain that these two individuals were probably not terrorists” but “might just be people being smuggled or trafficked” Mr Noble said.