DUBAI: An Iranian official on Sunday demanded that Qatar allow an Iranian investigative team to enter the country to determine the fate of pilots whom Tehran claims were captured by Qatari forces.

Qatar has denied capturing any Iranian pilots. Doha said its search and rescue teams recovered the remains of one pilot after Iranian aircraft allegedly violated Qatari airspace in March and failed to respond to repeated attempts to establish contact.

Qatari authorities said they had contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains and invited Tehran to review details of the search and rescue operation, but received no response.

Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of Iran’s Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of the Armed Forces General Staff, said an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Baqerzadeh accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation and preventing the return of the pilots to Iran.

He called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently intervene and follow up on the matter.

The Iranian official also claimed that Kuwait was withholding information about the fate of four Iranians being held there.

Iran said in May that the four individuals were affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and had been conducting a maritime patrol before entering Kuwaiti territorial waters because of a navigation problem.

Kuwait, however, has said the four were suspected of planning hostile activities against the country.

The competing claims come amid heightened regional tensions and continuing disputes between Iran and several Gulf states over airspace, maritime security and alleged hostile activities.