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Three Iranian pilots were captured alive by Qatari forces after their Su-24 fighter jets crashed during attacks in March, Iranian state broadcaster reported Saturday, citing a military official.
Mohammad Bagherzadeh, head of the Missing Persons Search Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, said the three were among four pilots aboard two fighter jets that went down during the war with the United States and Israel.
“Three Iranian pilots were captured alive by Qatari forces after the Su-24 fighter jets crashed during the March attacks,” Bagherzadeh said.
There was no immediate comment from Qatar on the Iranian claim.
Bagherzadeh identified the pilots as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Imran Bahruyian.
He said the three have been in Qatari custody for the past six months and that Qatar has not allowed them to meet, speak with or contact their families or Iranian officials handling their case.
Bagherzadeh said that under the Third Geneva Convention, the International Committee of the Red Cross should be allowed to meet the Iranian pilots in Qatar, examine their health conditions and facilitate their release.
Qatar’s Defense Ministry previously said two Su-24 fighter jets coming from Iran in early March were shot down by the Qatari Emiri Air Force.
The ministry also said seven ballistic missiles and five unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were neutralized by air defense systems.
In a written statement, the ministry said the necessary response was given in line with the operational plan immediately after the attempted attack was detected.
The statement said two Su-24 aircraft, described as coming from Iran, were shot down, while seven ballistic missiles were destroyed by air defense systems before reaching their targets.
In early August, Iranian Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia said Qatar had so far claimed it had no information about the fate of three Iranian Air Force pilots who went missing after a strike on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
Akraminia called on Doha to cooperate more seriously under its international obligations.
“Our follow-up efforts are continuing, but the Qatari side has so far claimed it has no information and has not clarified the status of our three dear pilots,” he said in a televised interview.
“We ask the Qatari Army and government to act with greater responsibility and, within the framework of their commitments under international conventions and international humanitarian law, make a more serious effort to clarify the status of the three remaining pilots of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force,” he added.
Iran’s army confirmed in late July that the body of one of its soldiers aboard a Su-24 aircraft who died during an attack on Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar would be returned within “a few hours.”
Iranian pilot Majid Kazemi was involved in an attack on the base in early March, according to the army.
“The martyrdom of Brigadier General Majid Kazemi, the pilot of one of the Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jets that caused heavy damage to the U.S. Al-Udeid base in Qatar ... has been confirmed through specialized tests and DNA analysis,” the army said in a statement.
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