Iran, Qatar interior ministers discuss missing pilots in Doha

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni met with his Qatari counterpart in Doha on Tuesday to discuss three Iranian pilots missing since March, with both sides agreeing that a technical delegation will hold further talks on the fate of the aircrew, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

Technical delegation to examine pilot case

Momeni told reporters following the meeting that negotiations focused specifically on the missing pilots, noting that the technical team will convene in the coming days to address outstanding questions surrounding their disappearance. He added that the discussions also encompassed broader bilateral security matters, including organized crime, coast guard cooperation, and joint efforts to combat drug trafficking.

Conflicting accounts of March incident

Tehran maintains that Qatari forces detained three pilots after their military aircraft were downed in Qatar’s airspace in March, a claim Doha has publicly denied. Qatar’s government stated that its search-and-rescue teams recovered the remains of one Iranian pilot and transferred them to Iranian authorities, adding that investigators found no evidence suggesting the other two were detained.

Doha invites Iranian team to review rescue records

Qatari officials have invited an Iranian technical team to review comprehensive details of the search-and-rescue operations, according to the same report. Momeni arrived in Doha on Monday for a series of meetings with senior Qatari officials as both countries seek to manage the diplomatic fallout from the incident amid ongoing Gulf tensions.