Evidence

Multiple mainstream outlets (Al Jazeera, The Jerusalem Post, The New Arab, RTE) confirm that Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, through Missing-in-Action Search Committee commander Mohammad Bagherzadeh, formally alleged that three Iranian pilots—identified as Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Omran Behraveshian—survived after their warplanes crashed following a failed March mission to attack US bases, and that these pilots have since been held by Qatar. Iran reportedly raised this in a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Qatar's Foreign Ministry, through spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari, has publicly and firmly denied the allegation, calling it 'false' and stating instead that Qatari search and rescue teams found the remains of one pilot after Iranian aircraft violated Qatari airspace and failed to respond to contact attempts. Kuwait was also separately accused by Iran of withholding a pilot. No independent forensic verification of either side's claims (e.g., from Reuters Fact Check, AFP Fact Check, or Bellingcat) was found in this search; the story remains a matter of competing official statements between Iran and Qatar.