Iran’s General Staff announced on Saturday that the Qatari government had allowed three Iranian pilots in Qatar to meet the Iranian ambassador.
The General Staff also requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to transport the pilots to Iran.
Iran raises concerns about the pilots’ health
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, head of the Missing Persons Search Committee at Iran’s General Staff, claimed that the pilots had been captured on March 2. Baqerzadeh said the Qatari government had approved a meeting between the Iranian ambassador and the pilots, and stated that their physical condition was poor.
Baqerzadeh said the floating structure where the pilots were being held did not have suitable conditions. He called for the three pilots to be brought ashore as soon as possible and transferred to a well-equipped hospital.
Claim that pilots were being held in Qatar denied
In a statement on August 15, Baqerzadeh said that three of the four pilots from two fighter jets that crashed during the war with the United States and Israel had been captured by Qatar.
According to the Iranian official, Javad Salehi, Abd al-Majid Dushtian and Imran Behrouzian have been held by Qatar for approximately six months. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majid Al-Ansari, denied claims that the pilots were being held by Qatar.
Iran says two fighter jets were targeted
Iranian authorities announced that two fighter jets had been targeted during retaliatory attacks on the U.S.-owned Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during the war. The body of pilot Majid Kazemi, who was killed in the attacks, was brought to Iran and buried.
Iranian officials had previously said that the fate of three pilots was still unknown and that the information available to Tehran was incomplete.
