Three Iranian military pilots have been held in Qatar for the past six months after being captured by Qatari forces, Iran International reported on Saturday.
The report cited the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff’s committee for missing personnel commander Mohammad Bagherzadeh, who disclosed the information in a letter to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, appealing for help securing the pilots' release.
According to the report, the pilots were taken into Qatari custody after their Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24 tactical bombers were struck in March during a mission against what Tehran described as "an enemy military base" in Qatar.
Bagherzadeh noted in the letter that the pilots have not been permitted to speak to their families or Iranian officials while in Qatari captivity, according to Iran International.
The Iran International report identified the pilots as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian, and Omran Behraveshian, and Iranian officials previously confirmed that an additional pilot, Majid Kazemi, was returned to Iran after a military operation against Qatar.
Qatar denies detaining Iranian pilots, says it found remains of one
Qatar denied later on Saturday that it was holding Iranian pilots, saying they had violated Qatari airspace earlier this year and had failed to respond to attempts to contact them.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on X/Twitter that search and rescue teams later found the remains of one of the pilots and that it had contacted Iran to coordinate a handover.
Al-Ansari added that Tehran had yet to respond to an invitation to review details of its operations.
Iran struck Qatari gas complex despite offer of 'secret deal'
In June, Iran struck Qatar's Ras Laffan gas complex despite Doha offering a "secret deal" to Tehran, offering to halt gas production in return for the promise of no Iranian strikes on Qatari energy infrastructure, according to a report by The Washington Post at the time.
The reported revelations come following comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News earlier on Saturday that the regime has been exchanging messages with Qatar and Pakistan regarding negotiations with the United States.
Araghchi added that Iran-US negotiations have not resumed despite the message exchange and insisted the US meet specific conditions for shipping to continue unabated in the Strait of Hormuz.
Reuters contributed to this report.