🔻Iranian Red Crescent follows the status of three Iranian pilots in Qatar via the Red Cross

🔻Iranian Red Crescent follows the status of three Iranian pilots in Qatar via the Red Cross

The Iranian Red Crescent Society says that, following reports regarding the detention of Iranian pilots in Qatar, it has followed up on the status of these individuals through correspondence with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

According to the information website of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pirhossein Koliwand, the head of this organization, in a letter to Miriana Espoliarich, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, asked about the situation, the place where these pilots are being held, and their health.

According to this website, Stefan Bonami, head of the ICRC delegation in Iran, in response to Mr. Koliwand’s letter said that, through bilateral and confidential talks with the parties involved, it is pursuing the fate and place of detention of these individuals within the framework of the organization’s humanitarian obligations.

The situation of the three Iranian pilots remains shrouded in ambiguity, and so far no reliable report about their status has been published.

Earlier, Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, had said that the three Iranian pilots in Qatar are in captivity and asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to help clarify their situation.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the matter categorically and said that it was surprised by the raising of these “misleading statements” in a situation where diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions are ongoing.

Iran says that two Su-24 fighter jets were dispatched on March 2 toward a military base in Qatar to carry out a “combat mission,” but on their return they were targeted by air defenses and the “pilots ejected.”

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