Iran says detained pilots' health deteriorating, urges Qatar to move them from sea site to hospital

Iran is putting pressure on Qatar to relocate detained Iranian pilots from their recent holding site on the water to a hospital facility on dry land, according to media reports. Iran’s Armed Forces committee head Mohammad Baqerzadeh, tasked with locating missing personnel, has claimed that the health of the pilots is deteriorating. He noted that pilots are confined at a waterborne location, calling it a “poor physical condition.”

Qatar denies claim

Noting the current detention site is inadequate for the pilots’ needs, Baqerzadeh appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross to dispatch an air ambulance to Qatar, with the focus of quick transfer of sick and wounded detainees back to Iranian soil. Meanwhile, Qatar refused last week over allegations of keeping any Iranian pilots, claiming that they had violated Qatari airspace earlier this year, responding to attempts to make contact.

As per several media reports, Doha claimed that it had been in contact with Iran to hand over one pilot’s remains and had invited Tehran to review search and rescue operations in detail; however, it had received no response.

Foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said Qatari rescue teams had conducted a thorough search for the three missing aviators, had already arranged for one pilot's remains to be handed over to Iran, and had invited an Iranian team back in April to be briefed on the search efforts, an invitation Tehran never acted on.

In his most recent remarks, Baqerzadeh welcomed Qatar's decision to admit a team of Iranian experts and urged Doha to extend them full cooperation. He had earlier stated that an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months for permission to enter Qatar, and accused Qatari officials of repeatedly stalling the investigation.