Iraq hands over remains of Iranian war dead to Tehran

BAGHDAD

The Iraqi government on Thursday 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 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.

According to al-Alusi, 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.

Since former President Saddam Hussein was ousted in the wake of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, relations between Iran and Iraq (the latter of which now has a Shia-led government) have improved dramatically.

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 find the remains of about 30,000 of its missing soldiers.

Reporting by Amer al-Hassani; Writing by Mahmoud Barakat