Iran claims health of pilots allegedly held in Qatar is deteriorating

An Iranian military official claimed Saturday that the health of Iranian pilots whom Tehran says are being held in Qatar is deteriorating, despite Doha’s denial that it has detained them, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, claimed that the pilots are being held “on the water” in conditions unsuitable for maintaining their health, Fars said.

“The physical condition of the Iranian pilots in Qatar is not good,” Bagherzadeh claimed.

He called on the Qatari government to transfer the pilots “as soon as possible” to land and to a properly equipped hospital.

READ: Iran asks Qatar to allow military team to investigate fate of missing pilots

Bagherzadeh also called on Kuwait to respect the rights of Iranian prisoners of war under the four Geneva Conventions and allow them initial contact with their families.

Iran on Aug. 16 urged Qatar to allow an Iranian military fact-finding team to enter the country to investigate the fate of three missing pilots, saying the team had been waiting for months for permission.

A day earlier, Qatar categorically denied holding the pilots. Doha said two Iranian Su-24 aircraft were downed after violating Qatari airspace during attacks on March 2 and that search-and-rescue teams subsequently searched for the pilots’ remains.

Qatar said the remains of one pilot were recovered and handed over to Iran. It also said it had invited an Iranian team in April to review the search-and-rescue operations, but Tehran had not responded to the invitation.

​​​​​​​Iran maintains that one of the four pilots was killed while the other three were captured alive.

READ: Qatar rejects Iran’s claim it detained 3 fighter pilots after March attack