Iran has called on Qatar to allow an Iranian fact-finding team into the country to investigate the fate of three pilots Tehran says were captured and held by Qatari forces after their aircraft entered Qatari airspace in March, an allegation Doha has denied.
Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, said an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar.
Bagherzadeh accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation and preventing the pilots from returning to Iran. He also called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently follow up on the case.
In a letter to the head of the Red Cross, Bagherzadeh identified the pilots as Javad Salehi, Abdul Majid Dashtian and Imran Behroshian, and said they had been held for six months. He alleged that the three had been captured after ejecting from their aircraft during a combat mission targeting a Qatari military base.
Iran said a fourth pilot, Majid Kazemi, was killed during the operation on March 2 and that his remains had been returned.
Bagherzadeh also alleged that the three pilots had not been allowed to meet or communicate with their families and accused Qatar of violating their rights under international law.
Qatar has categorically denied capturing the three pilots.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari said Qatari forces had contacted the pilots after they violated Qatari airspace but received no response. He said Qatar had taken measures to defend its territory in accordance with international law.
Al-Ansari said Qatari search-and-rescue teams had carried out operations to locate the pilots and recovered the remains of one of them. Qatar said it contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains and invited Tehran to review details of its search-and-rescue operation.
According to the Qatari account, the invitation was extended in April, but Tehran had not responded.
Al-Ansari also criticised what he described as “misleading statements” at a time when diplomatic efforts were under way to reduce tensions in the region.