Cairo: Iraq and Iran exchanged remains of 81 soldiers killed in an eight-year devastating war between them that ended in 1988, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
They included remains of 72 Iranian soldiers and eight Iraqi fighters, the ICRC added.
The swap, the latest such exchange, took place Wednesday at the Shalamcheh border crossing between the two countries.
“30+ years have passed since the end of the Iraq-Iran war. Yet, thousands of families are still waiting to find answers about their missing loved ones,” the ICRC said.
The war was a prolonged military conflict. Open warfare began on September 22, 1980, when Iraqi armed forces invaded western Iran along the countries’ joint border, though Iraq claimed that the war had begun earlier that month, on September 4, when Iran shelled a number of border posts.
Fighting was ended by a 1988 cease-fire, though the resumption of normal diplomatic relations and the withdrawal of troops did not take place until the signing of a formal peace agreement on August 16, 1990.
Hundreds of thousands were killed in the Iraq-Iran war. Ties between the two neighbours have improved since the 2003 fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
