Pilot accusation from Iran to Qatar: Investigation team not allowed

According to Iran's official news agency IRNA, Commander of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Search Committee for the Missing Persons, Mohammed Baqirzade, reacted to Qatari officials' denial of the statements made by the Iranian General Staff that Iranian pilots were taken captive.

Bakirzadeh claimed that an expert team from the Iranian Air Force had been waiting for months to enter Qatar and conduct an inspection in the field to investigate the fate of the pilots, but Qatari officials did not allow this process.

Bakırzade, who asked the Qatari administration to allow Iran's "fact investigation team" to enter the country instead of denying it, demanded that the issue be followed up urgently by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Bakırzade also stated that they could not receive information from the Kuwaiti authorities regarding the fate of 4 Iranian citizens who he claimed were taken captive in Kuwait.

What happened?

Iran's General Staff announced yesterday that 3 of the 4 Iranian pilots who were on two warplanes that crashed during the war with the USA and Israel were captured by Qatar.

Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Majid al-Ansari rejected the statement of the Iranian General Staff and stated that it was surprising and misleading that these statements were made at a time when diplomatic efforts to reduce tension in the region were continuing.

Iran had previously announced that warplanes were targeted during the attacks against the US-owned Al Udeyd Base in Qatar at that time, and announced that the body of the deceased pilot Majid Kazimi was buried after it was returned to Iran.

Iranian officials reported that the fate of the 3 pilots remained unclear and the information they had was incomplete.