Iran accuses Qatar of holding missing pilots, Doha denies claims

Iran has accused Qatar of detaining three Iranian pilots missing since March and obstructing an investigation, a claim Qatar has categorically denied. General Mohammad Bagherzadeh of Iran's armed forces said an inquiry team had been waiting for months to travel to Doha. Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said the pilots violated Qatari airspace and were shot down, and that search teams recovered the remains of one pilot. He said Qatar invited Iran to visit in April but received no response.

Hindustan Times and Greater Kashmir both report the exchange. Greater Kashmir adds that Iran has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross for help and that a fourth pilot was killed. The accusations come amid wider Middle East tensions, including Israeli airstrikes that killed 11 in Lebanon, a Houthi attack on a Yemeni port, and a reported strike on an Emirati tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.