Qatar rebuts allegations of capturing Iranian pilots
Shafaq News- Doha
Qatar on Saturday denied holding three Iranian military pilots whose aircraft was shot down during an attempted attack on the Gulf country, rejecting an Iranian allegation that the pilots had been detained for months.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari dismissed the assertion as misleading, noting that Qatari authorities had reached out to the pilots after they violated the country's airspace and confirmed their trajectory.
“After following the rules of engagement & attempting to communicate with them without receiving a response, the necessary measures were taken to defend our territory in accordance with international law,” Al Ansari wrote on X, cautioning that Qatar had explained the circumstances of the attack through official channels with Tehran.
We categorically deny the claims circulating regarding the detention of Iranian pilots & are surprised by these misleading statements at this particular time, amid the ongoing diplomatic efforts & initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions in the region.We reaffirm that…
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) August 15, 2026
He further explained that Qatari search-and-rescue teams had conducted operations to locate the pilots' remains, adding that Doha had approached Tehran to hand over the remains of one pilot who had been found.
“We issued an invitation for an Iranian team to visit the Qatar to be briefed on the details of the search & rescue operations, but the Iranian side has yet to respond to the invitation,” Al Ansari concluded.
On Saturday, in a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Iranian military commander Seyed Mohammad Bagherzadeh alleged that three Iranian military pilots whose aircraft were brought down over Qatari airspace in April had been held in Doha for months.
Iran previously confirmed that DNA tests had established the death of Brigadier General Pilot Majid Kazemi, one of the crew members of two Su-24 aircraft downed over Qatar. The Iranian military also disclosed that efforts to determine the fate of three other crew members from the two aircraft were continuing.
