Technical committees from the defense ministries of Iraq and Iran have agreed to jointly search for the remains of tens of thousands of missing persons in the eight-year war between the two countries that ended in 1988.
The agreement was reached after a series of meetings held over the past 10 years in Baghdad, Erbil and Tehran.
Head of the technical committee in charge of the file on missing persons of Iraqi Defense Ministry Brigadier General Hazem Qassem, told Asharq Al-Awsat that a joint technical committee comprising experts and specialists from both countries will begin next month under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and in cooperation with the Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Qassem indicated that Iraq’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the defense minister issued direct orders indicating that the file of the missing persons in the Iraq-Iran war should be finalized through careful investigation.
Baghdad and Tehran agreed to start searching for the remains in Penjwen, Haji Omeran in Erbil, and mountains of Sulaymaniyah, constituting the three-border areas that witnessed fierce clashes between the two sides during the years of war, according to Qassem.
He pointed out that the information received from reliable sources confirmed there were remains of military victims buried in those areas, adding that the mechanism and search plans in those areas were discussed with the Iranian side at the meeting held in Erbil over the past two days.
The plans will be conducted under supervision of the Red Cross team which has figures and information on the war missing victims from both countries.
Official Iraqi figures state there are 50 thousand missing Iraqi persons of different military ranks, and about 55 thousand missing Iranians.
Qassem denied reports claiming authorities in Baghdad decided to compensate families of the military victims, pointing out that the existing Iraqi laws consider a missing military person dead after he’s been missing for 4 years, and pays his family financial dues according to those laws.
