A frame grab of a footage broadcast by Saudi Arabias al-Arabiya TV channel on February 17, 2014, showing five Iranian border guards abducted by the Jaish-ul-Adl Takfiri terrorist group.[/caption]TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior provincial security official in Sistan and Balouchestan province on Saturday confirmed that Jamshid Danayeefar, the fifth abducted Iranian border guard whose fate had remained a mystery after his four comrades were freed earlier this year, has been killed by his abductors.
The confirmation was made by Sistan and Balouchestan Deputy Governor General for Security and Law Enforcement Ali Asqar Mirshekar in a telephone conversation with FNA on Saturday.
Yet, Head of the Interior Ministry's Information and International Affairs Center Rouhollah Jomehyee told FNA later today that "no corroborative evidence or document has yet been presented to us, and thus we do not confirm the news on Danayeefar's martyrdom".
Five Iranian border guards were abducted in Jakigour region of Irans Sistan and Balouchestan Province on February 6, 2014 and taken to Pakistani territory. Four of them, namely Ramin Hazrati, Sajjad Zahani, Mohammad Nezami and Jamshid Teymouri, were freed in early April.
A week before that, Jeish Al-Adl claimed that it had killed Danayeefar. Yet, Iranian officials have repeatedly denied the claim about Danayeefar, saying they are waiting for convincing proof.
On several occasions, Iranian officials had called on the Pakistani government to help secure the release of Danayeefar, but to no avail.
In April, former Commander of the Iranian Border Guard Units General Hossein Zolfaqari said diplomatic measures to clarify Danayeefar's fate were underway.
Zolfaqari told reporters in the Northeastern province of North Khorassan that the Iranian foreign and interior ministries were pursuing the case seriously.
The other four Iranian border guards who were handed over to the country's officials in neighboring Pakistan in early April returned home two months after their abduction.
Also in April, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli asked the Pakistani government do its responsibility for following up the case of the last kidnapped Iranian border guard.Also in April, member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Nozar Shafiyee said that Sergeant Danayeefar might have been alive and kept hostage in Pakistan.
"One of the strongest scenarios is that Danayeefar is still alive and (being kept) in Pakistan," Shafiyee told FNA.
On the basis of the same scenario, he said, the terrorist group might have kept Danayeefar to make a deal with the Iranian government.
Shafiyee said that all the governmental bodies, including the parliament, intelligence ministry, the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the foreign ministry, were making their utmost efforts to secure Danayeefar's release.
By Fars News Agency
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