Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran

Tehran, Aug 16: An Iranian military commander on Sunday urged the Qatari government to allow an Iranian Air Force fact-finding team to visit the country, instead of denying claims that Qatari forces had captured three Iranian pilots in March.

Mohammad Bagherzadeh, Commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, made the remarks in a statement published on the committee's website after Qatar on Saturday denied his claim that it had detained the Iranian pilots.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari issued the denial in a social media post after Bagherzadeh earlier claimed that Qatari forces had captured three Iranian pilots whose fighter jets were shot down while returning from a military mission against a US base in Qatar in March, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Responding to Al Ansari's denial, Bagherzadeh said a team of Iranian Army Air Force experts had been waiting for several months for permission to enter Qatar and conduct field investigations.

However, he alleged that the Qatari authorities' "continuous obstructionism and procrastination" had prevented preparations for the return of the Iranian pilots to their home country.

The Iranian commander urged the Qatari government to "instead of denying the issue and placing restrictions on the fact-finding path," allow the Iranian team to enter Qatar.

In a letter published on Saturday, Bagherzadeh had claimed that Qatari forces captured three Iranian pilots after their fighter jets were shot down while returning from a military mission against a US base in Qatar in March.

He said a fourth Iranian pilot was killed in the incident.

The body of the deceased pilot, Majid Kazemi, was returned to Iran and buried in the southern city of Shiraz in late July.