Tehran, August 16, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Iran has urged Qatar to allow an Iranian Air Force fact-finding team to enter the country to investigate the alleged capture of three Iranian pilots, rather than rejecting the claim that they were detained after their fighter jets were shot down in March.
Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, made the appeal in a statement published on the committee’s website on Sunday.
The statement came after Qatar on Saturday denied Bagherzadeh’s earlier claim that Qatari forces had captured three Iranian pilots whose aircraft were downed while returning from a military mission targeting a US base in Qatar in March.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari rejected the claim in a social media post.
Responding to the denial, Bagherzadeh said Iranian Air Force experts had been waiting for several months for permission to enter Qatar and conduct an on-ground investigation.
He alleged that “continuous obstructionism and procrastination” by Qatari authorities had prevented the necessary field investigation and delayed efforts to establish the whereabouts of the missing pilots and facilitate their return to Iran.
“Instead of denying the issue and placing restrictions on the fact-finding path,” Bagherzadeh urged Qatar to allow the Iranian team to enter the country.
In a letter published on Saturday, the Iranian commander had claimed that three pilots were captured by Qatari forces after their fighter jets were shot down while returning from the March mission against a US base in Qatar. He said a fourth Iranian pilot was killed.
The deceased pilot was identified as Majid Kazemi. His body was returned to Iran and buried in late July in Shiraz, a city in southern Iran.
Qatar has denied the Iranian claim that its forces captured the three pilots.
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