Iran considers missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar
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Qatar hosts the biggest US base in the Middle East, Al Udeid Air Base, which was attacked by Iran during the war that erupted on Feb 28.
PHOTO: AFP
TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Aug 17 it will consider three missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar, despite Doha’s denials, until it clarifies their fate.
Tehran has said the Iranians went missing while carrying out an operation against the US’ Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on March 2, shortly after the outbreak of the Middle East war.
On Aug 15, the Iranian authorities alleged for the first time that the pilots had been captured in Qatar, after previously saying one pilot had been killed and three others were missing following their sortie.
“It is imperative to obtain clarification on their situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a weekly press briefing.
“Until the pilots’ situation is clarified, we consider them prisoners and will spare no effort to shed light on their fate.”
Qatar denies holding the pilots and said an invitation had been sent to Iran “to be briefed on the details of the search and rescue operations in April, but the Iranian side has yet to respond”.
In July, Iran’s military said it had retrieved the body of pilot Majid Kazemi, who was killed during the attack on Al Udeid, the largest US military base in the Middle East.
The base hosts forward elements of US Central Command, as well as US air and special operations forces.
In early March, Qatar’s Defence Ministry said it had shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, but it was not immediately clear whether they were the same aircraft referred to by Iran.
Qatar and other countries across the region faced retaliatory attacks following the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered the war on Feb 28.
Diplomatic efforts led to an April ceasefire that ended nearly 40 days of fighting, followed by the signing of a framework for peace talks in June that later collapsed.
Iran and the US have since traded occasional fire, with strikes mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, which took part in mediation efforts to end the fighting, came under fire after the truce broke down, reporting attacks on its territory and on at least one Qatari tanker transiting the strait. AFP
