Sun 16 August 2026:

An Iranian military official said on Sunday that Qatar should allow an Iranian team to enter ⁠the country to investigate the ⁠fate of pilots whom Tehran says were captured by Qatari forces, Iranian media reported. Qatar denies holding any Iranian pilots. Doha ⁠said on Saturday that its search and rescue teams had found the remains of one pilot after Iranian aircraft violated Qatari airspace in March and failed to respond to attempts to contact them.

Qatar said it had contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains and had invited Tehran to review details of ⁠its search ⁠and rescue operations, but had received no response.

Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, said an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar, according to the semi-official ⁠Tasnim news agency.

Baqerzadeh accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation and preventing the pilots’ return to Iran. He called for the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently follow up on the case.

Baqerzadeh also said Kuwait was similarly withholding information about ⁠the ‌fate ‌of four Iranians held in ⁠Kuwait. In May, Iran said the ‌four were affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and had been on a maritime ⁠patrol before entering Kuwaiti territorial waters ⁠because of a navigation disruption. Kuwait has said ⁠the four were suspected of planning hostile actions against the country.

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Qatar denies Tehran’s claim

Qatar has denied Tehran’s claims that Iranian pilots are being held in secret detention following the downing of their aircraft during hostilities earlier this year.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed surprise on Saturday at “misleading statements” from Iranian officials and reaffirmed that Qatari forces are not holding any surviving aircrew.

“We categorically deny the claims circulating regarding the detention of Iranian pilots & are surprised by these misleading statements at this particular time, amid the ongoing diplomatic efforts & initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions in the region,” said Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari in a post on X.

Iran had previously acknowledged that one pilot was killed and the others were missing following their mission to Qatar, but details regarding their alleged capture had not previously been publicised.

Doha confirmed that Qatari air defence forces established contact with the aircraft after an unauthorised breach of Qatari airspace in March. After receiving no response to warnings, Qatari forces engaged the targets. Search and rescue teams later recovered the remains of one pilot, Majid Kazemi, and coordinated with Iranian authorities for the repatriation of his body.

“Qatar … communicated with the Iranian side to coordinate the handover of the remains of one of the pilots who was found, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law,” al-Ansari said on Saturday. “Qatar also issued an invitation for an Iranian team to visit Qatar to be briefed on the details of the search & rescue operations in April, but the Iranian side has yet to respond to the invitation.”

The military engagement came during an attack onthe Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, the largest United States military installation in the region, which hosts US Central Command (CENTCOM) personnel. In early March, Qatar’s Defence Ministry reported shooting down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, marking the first time a Gulf country reported downing Iranian aircraft during the conflict.

The interception came amid the broader wave of retaliatory strikes across the Gulf following the outbreak of hostilities on February 28. Although an April ceasefire brokered alongside initial mediator Pakistan temporarily halted major combat, peace framework talks collapsed in June. That led to sporadic clashes near the Strait of Hormuz and renewed attacks on regional shipping and infrastructure.

Despite this dispute, Qatar remains actively engaged as a key mediator and is pushing for a negotiated settlement between Iran and the US.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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