Iran Demands Release of Three Su-24 Pilots Allegedly Held by Qatar Since March Shootdowns

Iranian General Mohammad Bagherzadeh said in a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross that three pilots, Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Omran Behraveshian, were captured alive after their Su-24 jets were shot down returning from a March strike on Al Udeid air base, and that they have been held incommunicado for six months 12. The August 15 letter, addressed to ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, invoked Geneva Convention prisoner-of-war protections and asked the ICRC to interview the pilots, assess their health and facilitate their release, including medical repatriation if serious injury or illness is found 2. Qatar's Foreign Ministry, through spokesman Majed al-Ansari, called the claims "misleading" and said Qatari forces made contact with the pilots after an unauthorized airspace breach and took action under rules of engagement after receiving no response 234. Qatar said search-and-rescue teams recovered the remains of one pilot, identified as Majid Kazemi and returned to Iran in July, and that Doha invited an Iranian team to visit in April to review the operation, an invitation it says Iran has not answered 23. Iranian commander Sardar Bagherzadeh accused Qatari officials of "continuous sabotage and delay" in allowing an Iranian fact-finding team into the country 2.