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The two passengers travelling on stolen passports on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are reportedly Iranian nationals.

An Iranian friend of one of the men told BBC Persia he hosted the pair in Kuala Lumpur after they arrived from Tehran in the days preceding their flight to Beijing.

The source, who claimed he knew one of the men from his school days in Iran, said the duo had bought the fake passports because they wanted to migrate to Europe.

They were travelling on passports belonging to Christian Kozel, an 30-year-old Austrian, and Luigi Maraldi, a 37-year-old Italian.

They had bought the passports in Kuala Lumpur as well as tickets to Amsterdam, via Beijing.

The correspondent told BBC Persia that one of the Iranians was heading for Frankfurt, Germany, where his mother lives, while the other wanted to travel to Denmark.

BBC Persia's UN correspondent Bahman Kalbasi told The Telegraph that the two Iranians were "looking for a place to settle".

The revelation comes after it emerged a mystery Iranian called 'Mr Ali' bought tickets for the pair.

The US FBI are now trying to track him down.

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