TEHRAN -- The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society said on Monday that Qatar’s Red Crescent has pledged to help determine the fate of three Iranian pilots believed to have been held in Qatar, as Tehran pressed for information on their condition.
Pirhussein Kolivand said there is evidence suggesting the three pilots may be in Qatar, and called on the Qatar Red Crescent Society to use its channels to obtain information about their status to help their concerned families.
Qatar Red Crescent officials pledged to assist in following up on the case and obtaining information about the pilots, Kolivand said.
The case dates back to March 2, when two Iranian Su-24 fighter jets went down during retaliatory attacks on a U.S. military base in Qatar. Iran says three pilots were taken into custody alive, while another was martyred.
Commander of the Missing-in-Action Search Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff Brigadier General Seyyed Muhammad Bagherzadeh said the jets were hit by the “enemy’s air defense” on the way back, and the pilots ejected. He said one of the four pilots was martyred, and the rest were taken by Qatari forces.
The body of the fallen Iranian pilot, Majid Kazemi, was returned to Iran and buried in the southern city of Shiraz in late July.