Iran has called on Qatar to release three pilots it says were captured after their jets were shot down during a mission to the Gulf state, according to state media. The pilots,Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian, and Omran Behraveshian,were reportedly captured alive after their Su-24 warplanes crashed in March, according to Iran’s Fars news agency. General Mohammad Bagherzadeh of the Iranian armed forces said in a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross that the airmen had been held incommunicado for six months without access to their families or diplomatic representatives, according to the Times of Israel and Al Jazeera.

Qatar’s foreign ministry denied holding the pilots, stating that the aircraft had violated Qatari airspace and failed to respond to attempts to contact them. A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said search and rescue teams later found the remains of one of the pilots,Majid Kazemi—and that it had contacted Iran to coordinate a handover, according to The Times of Israel. The spokesperson said Tehran had yet to respond to an invitation to review details of its operations.

Al Udeid Base and U.S. Presence

The Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar includes forward components of U.S; Central Command (CENTCOM), as well as the command’s air forces and special operations forces. It is the largest U.S. military base in the region, according to The Times of Israel, while the military engagement occurred during an attack on Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts U.S. Central Command personnel.

Iranian Civil Aviation Resumes in Bandar Abbas

Also Saturday, Iranian state media reported that flights at the port city of Bandar Abbas resumed after repeated interruptions during the war. Kazem Tavassoli, director general of airports in Hormozgan province, said “scheduled flights at Bandar Abbas International Airport on high-traffic domestic routes resumed today,” according to the IRNA state news agency. The reopening comes “following limited flights in recent days,” Tavassoli said, adding that passengers can now buy tickets for the Tehran-Bandar Abbas, Mashhad-Bandar Abbas, and Bandar Abbas-Isfahan routes, in both directions. The airport handled 35 to 40 domestic and international flights per day before the war, Tavassoli said. The airport has been repeatedly closed since the war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, which retaliated with attacks across the region.

Discrepancies in Claims and Diplomatic Efforts

Iran had previously acknowledged that one pilot was killed and others were missing following their mission to Qatar, but details regarding their alleged capture had not previously been publicised. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said, “We are surprised by the misleading statements regarding the Iranian pilots amid the continuation of diplomatic efforts,” according to Al Jazeera. His statement followed public demands from Tehran seeking the release of the aviators.