Iranian military chief asks Qatar to relocate detained pilots to land hospital

Iranian official Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, called on Qatar on Saturday to relocate detained Iranian pilots from a water-based location to a land-based hospital, warning that the detainees were in poor physical condition. Baqerzadeh requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to facilitate the swift return of sick and injured pilots to Iran.

Qatar had earlier denied holding the pilots, stating they had violated Qatari airspace earlier in the year and ignored contact efforts. Doha said it had reached out to Iran to arrange the handover of one pilot's remains and invited Tehran to discuss its search-and-rescue operations, but received no reply. A foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed the invitation remains open for an Iranian delegation to discuss the pilots' case. Baqerzadeh welcomed Qatar's acceptance of an Iranian expert team and urged cooperation for their entry.