Qatar has denied claims that it is detaining Iranian pilots. Qatar has said Iranian pilots violated its airspace earlier this year, and that attempts to contact them went unanswered.
A spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry wrote in a post on X on Saturday that a search and rescue team later found the body of one of the pilots. Qatar said it has been in contact with Iran to coordinate the return of the body.
The spokesperson further said Qatar has invited Tehran to review the details of its operation, but Iran has not yet responded to the invitation.
According to an Al Jazeera report, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari expressed surprise Saturday at what he called “misleading statements” by Iranian officials. He confirmed that Qatari forces are not holding any living pilots or crew members.
Majed Al-Ansari wrote in a post on X: “We unequivocally reject the circulating claims about detaining Iranian pilots. We are also surprised by such misleading statements at a time when diplomatic efforts and various initiatives to ease regional tensions are underway.”
Before Al-Ansari’s statement, Tehran had demanded the release of its pilots. According to a report by Iran’s Fars News Agency, Iranian armed forces General Mohammad Bagherzadeh claimed in a letter sent to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that three pilots — Javed Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtiyan, and Omran Behraveshian — were captured alive by Qatar after their Su-24 fighter jet crashed in March. These claims could not be independently verified.
General Bagherzadeh further wrote in the letter that the pilots have been held for six months with no contact allowed with anyone, including their families or diplomatic representatives. He called for international humanitarian intervention on the matter.
Iran had earlier said one of its pilots was killed and others went missing after a mission in Qatar, but details of the detention allegation had never previously been made public.
Doha confirmed that in March, after multiple fighter jets entered Qatari airspace without authorization, Qatar’s air defense forces made contact and issued warnings. When no response was received to the warnings, Qatari forces struck the aircraft.
Qatar’s search and rescue team later recovered the body of Iranian pilot Majid Kazemi. Qatar has coordinated with Iranian authorities on returning his body.
Speaking Saturday, Al-Ansari said Qatar, in accordance with relevant provisions of international humanitarian law, has contacted Iranian counterparts to coordinate the handover of the recovered pilot’s body.
The Qatari official further said: “Qatar has also invited an Iranian delegation to visit and be briefed on the details of the search and rescue operation conducted in April, but Iranian authorities have not yet responded to that invitation.”
The Iranian fighter jet was shot down during an attack on Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the region, which hosts US Central Command (CENTCOM) personnel.
In early March, Qatar’s defense ministry said it had shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber jets — the first time a Gulf country reported downing Iranian warplanes since the war with Iran began.
The US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. Iran retaliated, and the wave of tit-for-tat strikes spread across the Gulf region, during which the two Iranian fighter jets were shot down.
A ceasefire brokered in April by initial mediator Pakistan temporarily halted major military conflict, but talks on a peace framework collapsed in June, leading to renewed scattered clashes near the Strait of Hormuz and fresh attacks on regional shipping and infrastructure.
Despite this dispute, Qatar remains actively engaged as a key mediator, continuing efforts to broker an understanding through talks between Iran and the United States.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report