DUBAI, Aug 16 - An Iranian military official on Sunday urged Qatar to grant access to an Iranian fact-finding delegation to probe the whereabouts of pilots Tehran says were captured by Qatari forces, Iranian state-linked media reported.
Qatar has denied that it is detaining any Iranian pilots. In a separate account, Doha said on Saturday that its search-and-rescue teams recovered the remains of one pilot following an incident in March, when Iranian aircraft violated Qatari airspace and failed to answer repeated contact attempts. Qatar said it informed Iran to arrange the handover of remains and extended an invitation for Iranian officials to examine the details of its search-and-rescue operations, but that it received no response from Tehran.
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, told the semi-official Tasnim news agency that an Iranian Air Force expert and a fact-finding team have been waiting for months to enter Qatar. Baqerzadeh accused Qatari authorities of repeatedly delaying access for the investigation and of obstructing efforts to return the pilots to Iran.
He called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently intervene and follow up on the case.
In addition to the dispute with Qatar, Baqerzadeh said Kuwait was withholding information about four Iranians who are being held there. In May, Iran said those four individuals were affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and had been on a maritime patrol when a navigation disruption led them into Kuwaiti territorial waters. Kuwait has said the four are suspected of planning hostile actions against the country.
Context and status
- Qatar maintains it is not holding any Iranian pilots and reports finding the remains of one pilot after an airspace violation in March.
- Iran maintains its own experts have been awaiting access to Qatar for months to investigate and recover personnel it says were captured.
- Separately, Iran says Kuwait is withholding information on four Iranians detained after entering Kuwaiti waters; Kuwait regards them as suspects in hostile planning.
The situation highlights unresolved disagreements between Tehran, Doha and Kuwait over incidents involving aircraft and maritime movements. Iran's request for international humanitarian involvement reflects the contested accounts and the lack of bilateral resolution so far.