Iran Qatar Discuss Missing Pilots During Doha Security Talks
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said after meeting his Qatari counterpart that the issue of the pilots was raised during the talks. The two sides agreed that a technical delegation would conduct additional discussions and examine the matter further.
Momeni said the meeting also addressed several areas of bilateral cooperation, including organized crime, coordination between coast guard forces, security issues and efforts to prevent drug trafficking.
The Iranian minister arrived in Doha on Monday as part of a visit focused on discussions with Qatari officials and strengthening security cooperation between the two countries.
The dispute over the missing pilots dates back to March, when Iran said three of its pilots were detained by Qatari forces after their military aircraft were brought down in Qatari airspace.
Qatar has rejected the Iranian account and said its search-and-rescue teams recovered the remains of one Iranian pilot following the incident.
Doha said the recovered remains were subsequently handed over to Iranian authorities, while maintaining that it had found no evidence that the other pilots had been detained by Qatari forces.
Qatari authorities have also invited an Iranian technical delegation to examine information and details related to the search-and-rescue operation.
The latest discussions provide a new channel for the two governments to address the conflicting accounts surrounding the pilots and review the circumstances of the incident through technical consultations.
Beyond the dispute, the talks covered broader security concerns shared by Iran and Qatar. The two sides discussed cooperation against organized criminal activity, drug trafficking and other security challenges, while also examining coordination between their coast guard authorities.
The agreement to continue technical-level discussions suggests that the issue of the missing pilots remains unresolved, with Tehran and Doha maintaining different accounts of what happened after the aircraft were downed.
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