🔻Majed Al-Ansari, Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson, firmly rejected Iran’s claim about the “captivity” of three Iranian pilots in Qatar, saying that given ongoing diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions in the region, he was very surprised by the proposal of “such misleading statements at this time.”

In a post on the X social network, Al-Ansari wrote that after Qatar’s airspace was violated in March, he contacted the Iranian pilots and their targeting route was confirmed. According to him, after the pilots did not respond to the messages, Qatar acted “in accordance with the rules of armed conflict and the requirements of international law” to defend its territory.

He also said that Qatar’s search and rescue teams carried out an operation to search for the pilots, and that the Qatar government contacted Iran to return the remains of one of the pilots who had been found.

The response came after earlier today Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, said that three Iranian pilots are in captivity in Qatar and asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to help clarify their situation.

📷 Reuters