TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian military commander said Saturday that Iran's three pilots believed to have been held captive by Qatar since March are "severely wounded and ill."

This photo taken on Feb. 20, 2026 shows a city view of Tehran, Iran. (Photo: Xinhua)

In a statement published on the committee's website, Commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Mohammad Bagherzadeh stressed that the pilots are being held offshore and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to transfer them to Iran by air ambulance.

Bagherzadeh welcomed the Qatari government's move to accept a team of Iranian experts, calling on the Arab state to provide the necessary cooperation.

He said the offshore location for keeping the pilots is not appropriate and requested Qatar's government to transfer them to a well-equipped onshore hospital as soon as possible.

Bagherzadeh also pointed to the situation of four Iranian nationals, who were detained by Kuwait in May on the charge of having attempted to "infiltrate" Kuwaiti territory, noting that the Arab state has granted initial consent to let Iran's ambassador meet them.

On Aug. 15, Bagherzadeh said Qatari forces had captured three Iranian pilots whose fighter jets were shot down when returning from a military mission against a U.S. base in Qatar in March. The commander said a fourth pilot was killed. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari later denied the claim in a social media post.

The next day, Bagherzadeh called on the Qatari government to allow a fact-finding team from the Air Force of Iran's Army to visit Qatar.

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the country will use all its bilateral, multilateral and legal capacities to clarify the pilots' situation.