Iran says three pilots held in Qatar, demands ICRC access

Iran announced on Saturday that three of its military pilots, missing since early March, are being held captive by Qatar following the downing of their fighter jets during retaliatory strikes against a U.S. base. The revelation came in an official letter from a senior Iranian armed forces commander to the International Committee of the Red Cross, demanding the pilots' immediate release and consular access.

Brigadier General Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee, identified the detained airmen as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian, and Omran Behraveshian. In the letter, Bagherzadeh stated the pilots have been held in Qatari custody for six months without being allowed to contact their families or meet with Iranian officials. He called on the Red Cross to inspect their living and health conditions and to facilitate their release in accordance with the Third Geneva Convention.

The pilots were crew members of two Su-24 tactical aircraft that crashed during Iranian military operations on March 2. According to Iranian accounts, the jets took off from Shiraz to conduct a bombing raid on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which serves as the largest U.S....