Qatar denies claims that 3 Iranian fighter pilots were detained

Qatar has rejected statements from the Iranian General Staff regarding the detention of pilots from Iranian fighter jets that were shot down on March 2.

In a statement from the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was noted that the pilots had violated Qatari airspace and that communication was attempted with them, but the pilots did not respond.

The statement denied claims that the Iranian pilots were being held, while reporting that search-and-rescue teams later recovered the lifeless body of one of the pilots and that coordination was established with Iran for the handover of the remains.

The Iranian General Staff had previously stated that 3 out of 4 Iranian pilots from two fighter jets shot down on March 2 during the war with the US and Israel had been taken prisoner by Qatar, and had requested the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate the status of the pilots and intervene for their release.

Brigadier General Mohammad Bagherzadeh, Commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, had emphasized that Majid Kazemi, one of the 4 Iranian pilots in the two downed aircraft, had lost his life, and that the other 3 pilots, Javad Salihi, Abdulmajid Shafiyan, and Imran Behroushiyan, had been taken prisoner alive by Qatari forces.

Qatar had delivered the body of Majid Kazemi, which was recovered late last month, to the Iranian side. Following the verification of the identity of the remains, a two-day funeral ceremony was held for Kazemi in Iran.

News Source: 12punto