Iraq, Iran swap remains of 61 soldiers from 1980-88 war

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq and Iran on Wednesday swapped the remains of 61 soldiers killed during war between the two neighbors in the 1980s.

Iraq "received the remains of four unidentified martyrs found in the Iranian territories," the Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the remains of 57 Iranian soldiers were handed over to the Iranian side.

The remains were found during a joint search operation in the provinces of Basra and Maysan in southern Iraq, the ministry said.

According to the statement, the remains were swapped at the Shalamcheh border crossing under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Both countries occasionally exchange remains and bodies of killed soldiers based on a joint agreement they signed in Geneva in 2008.

There are no official figures on the missing soldiers in the eight-year war, which lasted from 1980 to 1988. However, it is estimated that around one million were killed on both sides.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara