Joint Staff of the Armed Forces: Three Iranian pilots are held captive in Qatar

🔸Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the Joint Staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces, says that three Iranian pilots whose Sukhoi-24 fighter jets had crashed during the December attacks have survived and been taken into captivity by Qatari forces.

🔸In a letter that was published in Iranian domestic media on Saturday, 24 Mordad, he announced the names of these three pilots as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtiyan, and Omran Bahrooshian, and said that they have been held in captivity in Qatar for about six months.

🔸Based on the letter released by the Missing Persons Search Committee of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces, the pilots were dispatched with two Sukhoi-24 fighter jets to carry out a combat mission toward a military base in Qatar, and on the way back, after the air defenses targeted the fighters, they ejected from the aircraft.

🔸According to Mr. Baqerzadeh, the Qatari government has not, to date, allowed these individuals to meet, be interviewed, or make contact with their families or with Iranian officials pursuing the case.

🔸This Joint Staff official, citing the Third Geneva Convention, also called for the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit these three pilots as soon as possible and to review their health condition.

🔸The Qatari government has not, so far, responded to this claim.