Iran has called on Qatar to facilitate its investigation team to determine the fate of missing pilots, Iranian media reported.
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff’s Committee for the Search for Missing Persons, said an Iranian air force and fact-finding delegation had been awaiting permission to travel to Qatar for several months.
Baqerzadeh accused Qatari authorities of repeatedly postponing the investigation and obstructing efforts to return the pilots to Iran. He also urged the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene and urgently pursue the matter.
Meanwhile, Qatar has rejected claims that it is detaining Iranian pilots, saying the individuals entered Qatari airspace earlier this year and did not respond to efforts by authorities to establish contact.
A spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry stated on X that search-and-rescue teams had recovered the remains of one pilot and that Doha had contacted Tehran to arrange their transfer.
The spokesperson added that Iran had not yet responded to an invitation to examine information related to Qatar’s search and rescue operations.
Ghalibaf Says Trump Acknowledged Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ in Islamabad MoU
