🔻Baqaei: Until the situation of the pilots is clarified, we consider them prisoners

Iran says it is still pursuing the status of its three pilots who went missing at the beginning of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, and until it receives a clear explanation from Qatar, it assumes they are “prisoners.”

Ismail Baqaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said: “As long as their situation has not been clarified, it is assumed that they have been taken captive. Therefore, we will use all our capacities in bilateral, multilateral, and legal channels to clarify the situation of our pilots.”

Mr. Baqaei said that since 11 Esfand, when these pilots disappeared during operations in the war, Iran has been following up on their status and also corresponded with the Red Cross on 25 Esfand.

Iran says that two Sukhoi-24 fighter jets, on 11 Esfand 1404 (March 2, 2026), took off to carry out a combat mission toward a “military base of the enemy” in the country of Qatar, but on their return they were targeted by air defenses.

One of the four pilots, Majid Kazemi, was held on Friday, 9 Mordad, and was laid to rest in Shiraz.

Iran says the other three pilots were taken captive by Qatar, but Doha denies the claim.