Iraq hands over remains of Iranian war dead to Tehran

The Iraqi government today delivered the remains of 135 Iranian soldiers killed during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988) over to Tehran, according to an Iraqi official.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, Majid Al-Alusi, a member of an Iraqi committee devoted to overseeing the exchange of prisoners and missing persons between the two countries, said the remains had been delivered across the Shatt Al-Arab, the waterway that runs between the two countries.

The remains were discovered in recent months in southern Iraq’s Basra, Amara and Kut provinces.

The two countries fought a devastating eight-year war in the 1980s that left an estimated one million people dead on both sides – according to unofficial statistics – and economic losses estimated at some $1 trillion.

The two countries are currently conducting joint excavations in hopes of unearthing the remains of fallen soldiers from both sides.

Baghdad hopes to find the remains of some 50,000 Iraqi soldiers lost in the war, while Iran hopes to discover the remains of about 30,000 of its missing soldiers.