TEHRAN – Iran accused Qatar on Aug 16 of thwarting efforts to work out what happened to three pilots Tehran says were captured during the Middle East war, though the Gulf state has denied detaining them.

Iran previously reported that one pilot was killed and others missing after a sortie to Qatar in March, but did not claim at the time that any of them was captured.

“A team of experts from the Iranian Air Force has been waiting for several months to travel to Qatar to conduct an on-site investigation,” said Iranian general Mohammad Bagherzadeh.

“However, due to persistent delays by Qatari authorities, the return of our brave pilots to their homeland remains impossible,” he added, according to the Tasnim news agency.

He called on Doha to authorise the team to travel to Qatar.

Bagherzadeh accused Qatar on Aug 15 of having captured three Iranian pilots who were carrying out an operation against the United States’ Al Udeid air base in early March and demanded their release.

Qatar denied holding the pilots and said an invitation was sent to Iran “to be briefed on the details of the search & rescue operations in April, but the Iranian side has yet to respond”.

Iran’s military said in July it retrieved the body of pilot Majid Kazemi, who was killed during the attack on Al Udeid.

The largest US military base in the Middle East, Al Udeid hosts forward elements of US Central Command, as well as its air and special operations forces.

In early March, Qatar’s Defence Ministry said it shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers.

It was not immediately clear whether they were the same aircraft referred to by Iran, as Qatar and other countries across the region faced retaliatory attacks following the US and Israeli strikes that triggered the war.

It was the first time a Gulf country reported shooting down Iranian aircraft since the war broke out on Feb 28.

Diplomatic efforts led to an April ceasefire that ended nearly 40 days of fighting, followed by the signing of a framework for peace talks in June that later collapsed.

Iran and the US have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatar, which took part in mediation efforts to end the fighting, came under fire after the truce broke down, reporting attacks on its territory and at least one Qatari tanker transiting the strait. AFP