Iran claims Qatar is holding three pilots who had been shot down in March. Doha decries ‘deceptive statements’.
Revealed On 15 Aug 2026
Qatar’s Ministry of International Affairs has denied Tehran’s claims that Iranian pilots are being held in secret detention following the downing of their plane throughout hostilities earlier this 12 months.
A ministry spokesman expressed shock on Saturday at “deceptive statements” from Iranian officers and reaffirmed that Qatari forces will not be holding any surviving aircrew.
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“We categorically deny the claims circulating concerning the detention of Iranian pilots & are stunned by these deceptive statements at this explicit time, amid the continued diplomatic efforts & initiatives geared toward de-escalating tensions within the area,” stated Qatar’s International Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari in a submit on X.
His assertion adopted public calls for from Tehran in search of the discharge of the aviators. Normal Mohammad Bagherzadeh of the Iranian armed forces stated in a letter to the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross that three pilots, Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Omran Behraveshian, had been captured alive after their Su-24 warplanes crashed in March, based on Iran’s Fars information company.
Bagherzadeh said that the airmen had been held incommunicado for six months with out entry to their households or diplomatic representatives, urging worldwide humanitarian intervention.
Iran had beforehand acknowledged that one pilot was killed and the others had been lacking following their mission to Qatar, however particulars concerning their alleged seize had not beforehand been publicised.
Doha confirmed that Qatari air defence forces established contact with the plane after an unauthorised breach of Qatari airspace in March. After receiving no response to warnings, Qatari forces engaged the targets. Search and rescue groups later recovered the stays of 1 pilot, Majid Kazemi, and coordinated with Iranian authorities for the repatriation of his physique.
“Qatar … communicated with the Iranian aspect to coordinate the handover of the stays of one of many pilots who was discovered, in accordance with the related provisions of worldwide humanitarian legislation,” al-Ansari stated on Saturday. “Qatar additionally issued an invite for an Iranian workforce to go to Qatar to be briefed on the main points of the search & rescue operations in April, however the Iranian aspect has but to answer the invitation.”
The army engagement got here throughout an assault onthe Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, the biggest United States army set up within the area, which hosts US Central Command (CENTCOM) personnel. In early March, Qatar’s Defence Ministry reported taking pictures down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, marking the primary time a Gulf nation reported downing Iranian plane throughout the battle.
The interception got here amid the broader wave of retaliatory strikes throughout the Gulf following the outbreak of hostilities on February 28. Though an April ceasefire brokered alongside preliminary mediator Pakistan briefly halted main fight, peace framework talks collapsed in June. That led to sporadic clashes close to the Strait of Hormuz and renewed assaults on regional delivery and infrastructure.
Regardless of this dispute, Qatar stays actively engaged as a key mediator and is pushing for a negotiated settlement between Iran and the US.
The diplomatic friction comes as broader peace efforts face difficulties forward of a key deadline. A 60-day negotiating window established below a mid-June memorandum of understanding expires on Monday, with few direct talks having occurred, leaving maritime visitors by way of the Strait of Hormuz at a trickle.
Addressing an viewers on Friday in New York, US President Donald Trump stated Iran was being “very badly defeated” and advised he would “fairly quickly be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of america”.
Tehran swiftly rejected the remarks on Saturday.
Iran’s Deputy International Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X that the strategically important waterway “can’t be seized with a tweet, nor with an plane service”, warning that Iran would proceed to implement its blockade till Washington accepts “the truth of defeat”.
