Iran disputes Qatar, Kuwait accounts of captured pilots

An Iranian military official has called for Qatar to permit an Iranian team to investigate the status of pilots Tehran claims were captured by Qatari forces. However, Qatar denies holding any Iranian pilots and asserts that its search and rescue teams discovered the remains of one pilot after Iranian aircraft crossed into Qatari airspace in March without responding to contact attempts.

Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of Iran's Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of the Armed Forces General Staff, stated that an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team have been awaiting permission to enter Qatar for months. He accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation and preventing the safe return of the pilots to Iran.

Baqerzadeh urged the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently address the matter. Additionally, he alleged that Kuwait is also withholding information regarding the fate of four Iranians detained in Kuwait. In May, Iran claimed that the four individuals were part of the Revolutionary Guard and were on a maritime patrol when they entered Kuwaiti territorial waters due to a navigation obstacle. Kuwait maintains that the four were suspected of plotting hostile actions against their country.