Qatar denies holding Iranian pilots, calls claims “baseless”

Qatar has rejected Iranian claims that three Iranian pilots were captured and are being held by Qatari forces, calling the allegations baseless and insisting that Doha and Tehran remain in direct contact.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari said Iranian claims that Qatar was holding the pilots were “completely baseless” and “illogical.”

Al-Ansari said Iranian aircraft had entered Qatari airspace to launch an attack on Doha and were shot down after their pilots failed to respond to warnings.

He said the remains of one of the pilots were recovered on March 19 and later handed over to an Iranian delegation. The search operation was completed on April 6, he added.

According to the Qatari official, Doha invited an Iranian technical team to examine details of the search-and-rescue operation, but Tehran has yet to respond. The invitation, he said, “remains valid.”

The comments came after Mohammad Bagherzadeh, the head of the General Staff’s missing persons search committee, claimed on August 15 that three Iranian pilots had been captured by Qatari forces in March following the crash of their fighter jets.

Bagherzadeh called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the pilots and facilitate their release.

Qatar has dismissed the appeal for ICRC involvement as a media tactic, arguing that there is no need for a third party because Doha and Tehran maintain direct communication.

“The involvement of the ICRC, as mentioned in the Iranian statements, is simply a media tactic and an attempt to show their people that they are doing everything possible. They do not need a third party. [...] We are in direct contact with the Iranians,” Al-Ansari said at a briefing.

The diplomat explained that third-party involvement would be necessary only in the absence of direct communication, stressing that Qatar and Iran continue to maintain contact.

By Vafa Guliyeva