Two Iranians travelling on forged passports on the Malaysian Airways flight MH370, which has disappeared, had no links to terror, Interpol has revealed.

The international police organisation, Interpol, has released an image of the two men, identified as Pouria Nour Mohammad, 19, and Seyed Mohammed Rezar Delawar, 29. They were friends and were hoping to seek asylum in Europe, according to Malaysian officials.

"The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it was not a terrorist incident," said Interpol's head, Ronald Noble.

Nour Mohammad had been using a stolen Austrian passport in an attempt to reach Germany to seek asylum and reunite with his mother, Malaysian police said. His mother was waiting for him in Frankfurt. Delawar was apparently using a stolen Italian passport.

Visa requirements have been eased in recent years for Iranian nationals travelling to Malaysia, making the country a popular hub for Iranian tourists, students and those looking for ways to emigrate to Europe.

An unnamed Iranian, who met both passengers in Malaysia and went with them to the airport, has spoken to the BBC's Persian service about the days before their departure.

"One of the two was my friend from high school," he told BBC Persian on Monday by phone from Malaysia, apparently referring to Nour Mohammad.

"I met him the first day he arrived in Malaysia … He said he was staying for three to four days but was eventually going to Germany. His final destination was Frankfurt," the friend said.

Nour Mohammad's latest posts on Facebook show him in Kuala Lumpur. "Feeling excited," he wrote as he arrived in Malaysia in late February. In one of his earlier posts, he asked friends to "pray" for him, possibly worried about the risks of travelling on a forged document.

According to the friend, Nour Mohammad and Delawar stayed for almost a week in Malaysia before their departure.

"We went together to book the flights, and I even had his booking number and was checking his flight status online all the time," he said. "That's why I remember which flight he was taking: I had seen his flight number.

"I accompanied them to the airport. It was almost 8pm that we headed to the airport, and we arrived around 9pm to 9.15pm at the airport and we stayed in the car for few minutes and chatted."

The friend said he had discovered the pair were planning to travel with stolen passports during the final days of their stay.

"The last night before the flight, they both stayed at mine," he said. "His [Nour Mohammad's] friend was dying his beard and hair and was checking the colour to match with the picture of a passport. He was making himself look like the photo in the passport," he told BBC Persian.

"When we printed the tickets, I realised that the passports were fake. My friend's passport belonged to Austria and my friend's friend had a passport belonging to Italy … They had three flights to take: from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, from Beijing to – I think – Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam my friend was heading to Frankfurt and his friend was going to another country."

He said his friend's mother had since contacted him and asked him to inform the airline about his forged passport.

"His mother told me how he got hold of the fake passport. He had bought the fake passport and wanted to go [to Germany] to seek asylum, and his mother told me his son was travelling with another person.

"My last contact with the two was 11.30pm, when they had passed the immigration gate. I wanted to make sure they found their way. They said they were waiting to get on the plane. I have [since the mother's contact] informed the airline, and this is how I've made sure they were aboard the flight."

Khalid Abu Bakar, of the Malaysian national police, said information that had emerged surrounding the two Iranian men diminished the likelihood that terrorism played a role in the plane's disappearance.

"We believe [Nour Mohammad] is not likely to be a member of any terror group and we believe he was trying to migrate to Germany," he said.

Both passports, it has been revealed, were stolen in Thailand. Interpol said they were reported as stolen in the past two years. It was unclear how the Iranians have got their hands on them but it is not the first time Iranian asylum seekers have used forged documents in order to reach Europe.

Tickets for the two were reportedly bought in the Thai city of Pattaya, via an Iranian identified by the travel agent Benjaporn Krutnait - owner of Grand Horizon travel - as Mr Ali. There was no suggestion Mr Ali had any links with the forged passports.

On Tuesday, Iran's foreign ministry said it was pursuing information about possible Iranians aboard the lost Malaysian plane and was prepared to share information. "We are offering our cooperation to obtain more information," said the ministry's spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham.