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An Iranian military official on Sunday called on Qatar to allow an Iranian Air Force fact-finding team into the country to investigate the fate of pilots Tehran says were captured by Qatari forces, disputing Doha's account of the incident, Iranian media reported.
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, said a team of experienced Air Force specialists had been waiting for several months to enter Qatar.
According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, Baqerzadeh accused Qatari authorities of repeatedly delaying the team's entry and obstructing efforts to determine what happened to the pilots.
"Instead of denying the issue and creating restrictions in the path of fact-finding, the Qatari government should allow the expert and fact-finding team of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Air Force to travel to Qatar," Baqerzadeh said.
He said the delays had prevented what he described as the return of the Iranian pilots to the country.
Qatar has denied that it is holding any Iranian pilots.
Doha said Saturday that its search and rescue teams had recovered the remains of one pilot after Iranian aircraft violated Qatari airspace in March and failed to respond to attempts to establish contact.
Qatar said it had contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains and invited Tehran to review details of the search and rescue operation but had received no response.
Baqerzadeh nevertheless called for the Iranian team to be given access to Qatar to conduct its own investigation.
He also renewed his call for the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently follow up on the case.
Baqerzadeh separately accused Kuwait of withholding information about the fate of four Iranians held there and warned over what he described as similar delays in providing information.
Iran said in May that the four were affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and had been conducting a maritime patrol before entering Kuwaiti territorial waters because of a navigation disruption.
Kuwait has said the four Iranians were suspected of planning hostile actions against the country.
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