Qatar Denies Holding Iranian Pilots Following Tehran's Claims

DOHA, August 18. /TASS/. Tehran's claims that Qatar is holding Iranian pilots are untrue, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said.

"These claims in the media are completely baseless and illogical," he said, commenting on Iran's statements about the pilots.

Al Ansari stressed that Iranian aircraft had entered Qatari airspace to strike Doha and were shot down after their pilots failed to respond to warnings. He said the remains of one pilot were found on March 19 and later handed over to an Iranian delegation. The search operation was completed on April 6.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that Doha had invited an Iranian technical team to review the details of the search-and-rescue operation, but Tehran had not responded to the invitation, which "remains open."

On August 15, Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Iranian armed forces' missing persons search committee, said three Iranian pilots had been captured by Qatari forces in March after their fighter jets crashed. He called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the pilots and help secure their release.