Qatar denies holding three Iranian pilots, says one was found dead

Qatar on Saturday denied that its forces were holding three Iranian pilots, rejecting a claim by Tehran that the pilots were captured alive after ejecting from fighter jets during a combat mission targeting a military base in Qatar.

A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on X that the Iranian pilots had violated Qatari airspace in March and failed to respond to repeated attempts by Qatari authorities to contact them.

The spokesperson said Qatari search and rescue teams later recovered the remains of one of the pilots. Qatar also contacted Iran to coordinate the handover, but Tehran had yet to respond to an invitation to review details of the operation, the spokesperson said.

The denial came after Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted a senior military official as saying that three Iranian pilots had been captured alive by Qatari forces after ejecting from their fighter jets during a mission against a military base in Qatar.

The Iranian official called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to follow up on the pilots’ fate.

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff also said in a letter published by the semi-official Fars news agency on Saturday that it had appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help secure the release of three Iranian pilots it said were being held by Qatar.

According to the Iranian account, the pilots were captured after their aircraft were hit during a March mission against what Tehran described as an enemy military base in Qatar.

The mission took place as Iran responded to US and Israeli attacks that began on February 28. Tehran has accused the United States and Israel of using bases in Gulf Arab states as part of the attacks.

Qatar said it took measures to defend its territory after the Iranian pilots entered its airspace and did not respond to attempts to establish communication.

The US-Israeli attacks on Iran triggered a wider regional conflict, with Tehran launching strikes against targets in Israel and US military facilities across the Gulf.

– Ends