Iran has officially requested the release of three of its military pilots who were captured during an attack on a U.S. base in Qatar back in March, in the context of the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
General Mohammad Bagherzadeh, head of the Missing Persons Search Committee within the Iranian armed forces, stated that “three Iranian pilots were taken alive by Qatari forces following the crash of their Su-24 aircraft” on March 2. This information was reported by the Fars news agency.
Bagherzadeh named the three detained pilots as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian, and Omran Behraveshian, and noted that the Qatari government has not allowed them to meet or contact their families or officials. He addressed his concerns in a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), urging the organization to assist in securing their release.
In late July, the Iranian military announced the recovery of the body of a pilot, Majid Kazemi, who had been killed in an attack earlier in March against the Al-Udeid airbase, which is operated by the U.S. in Qatar. Officials indicated that three other pilots had been reported missing since the incident, but it was not confirmed whether they had been captured.
The conflict in the Middle East began on February 28 with Israeli-American airstrikes against Iran. In response, Tehran launched strikes against Gulf countries hosting U.S. military bases. A framework agreement was signed in mid-June between Tehran and Washington aimed at ending the conflict; however, negotiations between the two sides currently remain stalled.
