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An Iranian military commander said Saturday that the health of three Iranian pilots he claims are being held by Qatar is deteriorating.
The claim escalates a monthslong dispute over the fate of aircrew whose fighter jets were shot down during a strike on a U.S. base earlier this year. Qatar continues to deny it is holding any surviving pilots.
Mohammad Bagherzadeh, who commands the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons within Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, said the pilots are being kept "on the water," in conditions he described as unsuitable for maintaining their health, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.
"The physical condition of the Iranian pilots in Qatar is not good," Bagherzadeh said.
He urged the Qatari government to move the pilots onto land and into a properly equipped hospital as soon as possible.
He also said Qatari authorities had agreed to allow Iran's ambassador to meet with the pilots, a claim reported separately by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. There was no immediate confirmation from Qatari officials of that arrangement.
Bagherzadeh separately called on Kuwait to respect the rights of Iranian prisoners of war under the four Geneva Conventions.
He asked that they be allowed initial contact with their families, though he did not provide additional detail on that case.
The renewed appeal follows a request Iran made on Aug. 16, when it asked Qatar to permit an Iranian military fact-finding team into the country to investigate the fate of three pilots it says have been missing for months.
Iranian officials said at the time that the request for access had gone unanswered for an extended period.
Qatar has repeatedly and categorically denied holding any Iranian pilots.
A day before Iran's Aug. 16 request, Qatari officials said two Iranian Su-24 aircraft were shot down after violating Qatari airspace during attacks on March 2, and that search-and-rescue teams were subsequently deployed to recover the pilots' remains.
Qatar has said the remains of one pilot were recovered and handed over to Iranian authorities.
Qatari officials also said they invited an Iranian team in April to review the details of the search-and-rescue operation, but that Tehran did not respond to the invitation.
Iran maintains a different account. It says one of four pilots involved in the mission was killed, while the other three were captured alive and remain in Qatari custody.
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The March 2 incident occurred during a period of intense hostilities in the Gulf region, when Qatar's air force reported shooting down the two Iranian bombers as they returned from a mission.
It marked one of the first instances of a Gulf Arab state downing Iranian military aircraft amid the broader conflict that had erupted weeks earlier between Iran and the United States and Israel.
Qatar hosts Al Udeid Air Base, a major installation used by U.S. forces in the region. That has placed Doha, which has also sought to play a mediating role in efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, in a delicate position between Washington and Tehran.
Neither the Qatari government nor the International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed Iran's account of the pilots' condition or whereabouts.
The competing narratives, one asserting captivity and deteriorating health, the other denying any detention took place, remain unresolved.
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