An Iranian military official called on Qatar on Saturday to transfer detained Iranian pilots to a hospital on land, saying they were being held on water and were in “poor physical condition”, Tasnim news agency reported.
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, said the location where the pilots were being held was unsuitable and requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to expedite the return of injured and sick detainees to Iran. Doha said it had contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains of one pilot and had invited Tehran to review details of its search and rescue operations, but had received no response.
Baqerzadeh had previously said an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar and accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation.
