Iran urges Qatar to free three pilots seized after Su-24 crash

In a letter addressed to the International Committee of the Red Cross, General Mohammad Bagherzadeh of the Iranian armed forces said three Iranian pilots—Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Omran Behraveshian—were seized alive by Qatari forces after their Su-24 aircraft crashed during the Middle East war. He noted that the men have been detained for six months and have not been permitted to communicate with their families.

Iran earlier announced the recovery of Majid Kazemi’s body, who died in an early March strike on Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, a major US Central Command installation. While the pilots were originally listed as missing, their capture was not made public at the time. The request for their release follows a ceasefire declared in April, a collapsed peace framework in June, and a recent reduction in hostilities since late July.