Majid Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has categorically rejected Iran’s claim that three Iranian pilots were captured by Qatar, saying he was deeply surprised by what he described as misleading statements.
In a post on X on Saturday night (24 Asad), Ansari said: “We categorically deny the claims regarding the capture of Iranian pilots.”
Seyed Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of Iran’s Committee for the Search and Recovery of Missing Persons at the General Staff of the Armed Forces, said the previous day that three Iranian pilots were being held captive in Qatar.
He called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to cooperate in clarifying their whereabouts and condition.
In a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the contents of which were published by Iranian media, the IRGC commander wrote that two Iranian Su-24 fighter jets had been dispatched on March 2 this year on a “combat mission” toward a military base in Qatar. However, while returning, the aircraft came under air-defense fire, forcing the pilots to eject.
He added that one of the four pilots, Majid Kazemi, was buried in Shiraz last month, while the other three pilots had been “captured alive by Qatari forces.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, however, confirmed that Qatar had carried out a defensive operation against Iranian fighter jets after they violated its airspace, but said that the country had no information about the fate of the pilots.
Ansari said: “The necessary measures to defend our territory were taken in accordance with international law. In this regard, we note that Qatari search-and-rescue teams fully carried out their duties in searching for the remains of the pilots. The Qatari government contacted the Iranian side to coordinate the handover of the remains of one of the pilots who had been recovered, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law.”
In recent months, Iranian media have published reports about air operations conducted by the country’s military during the early days of the war. Some Iranian military officials and analysts have also claimed that older aircraft, including Iran’s F-5 fighter jets, carried out attacks on Kuwait and that their pilots returned safely.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
