Iran Disputes Qatar, Kuwait Accounts of Captured Personnel

An Iranian military official stated 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.

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. 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.

Qatar denies holding any Iranian pilots. Doha stated on Saturday that its search and rescue teams 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 contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains and invited Tehran to review details of its search and rescue operations, but received no response.

Qatar's foreign affairs spokesperson Majed Mohammed Al Ansari said contact had been made with the pilots after they violated Qatari airspace, but that it had not received a response. Al Ansari stated that the necessary measures were taken to defend our territory in accordance with international law. Iran's Brig Gen Mohammad Bagherzadeh claimed in a letter to the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that three pilots, Javad Salehi, Abdul Majid Dashtian, and Imran Behroshian, had been held captive for six months.

He also said the body of a fourth pilot, Majid Kazemi, had been returned after he was killed in the same operation on March 2, 2026, the third day of the US-Iran war. Bagherzadeh accused Qatar of violating the inalienable rights of these prisoners, contrary to all international laws and regulations and claimed the pilots had not been allowed to meet or contact their families.

Qatar categorically denied Iran's claims and expressed surprise at misleading statements. Baqerzadeh also stated that Kuwait was withholding information about the fate of four Iranians held in Kuwait.