Iran considers missing pilots prisoners in Qatar as Doha denies holding them

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday it would consider three missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar until Doha clarifies their fate, despite Qatar's continued denial that it is holding any Iranian airmen.

Tehran said the pilots went missing on March 2 while carrying out an operation against the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, shortly after the outbreak of the Middle East war.

Who are the missing Iranian pilots and what happened to them?

Iran has identified the three pilots as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian, and Omran Behraveshian, whose Su-24 bombers were shot down during the March 2 mission. Tehran says the pilots were captured alive by Qatari forces and has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene. Qatar denies detaining any Iranian pilots and said its search and rescue teams found the remains of one pilot after the incident.

Iranian authorities had previously said one pilot was killed and three others were missing following the sortie. On Saturday, Iran alleged for the first time that the surviving pilots had been captured in Qatar. Last month, 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.

What has Qatar said about the Iranian pilots?

Qatar's defence ministry said in early March that it had shot down two Iranian Su-24 bombers, though it was not immediately clear whether these were the same aircraft referenced by Iran. Doha said it had sent Iran an invitation in April to be briefed on the details of search and rescue operations, but that Iran had yet to respond. Qatar continues to deny that it is holding any Iranian personnel.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a weekly press briefing that Iran would spare no effort to clarify the pilots' fate. "Until the pilots' situation is clarified, we consider them prisoners," he said. Iran's military has also called on Qatar to allow an Iranian air force fact-finding team to enter the country.

What is the broader context of the Iran-Qatar dispute over the pilots?

Qatar and other countries across the region faced retaliatory attacks after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered the Middle East war on February 28. Diplomatic efforts led to an April ceasefire that ended nearly 40 days of fighting, followed by a framework for peace talks signed in June that later collapsed. Iran and the United States have since traded occasional strikes, mainly centered 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 collapsed, reporting attacks on its territory and on at least one Qatari tanker transiting the strait. The dispute over the pilots adds a new layer of tension between Tehran and Doha, complicating Qatar's role as a mediator and raising questions about the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.