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Iraq, Iran to Search for Remains of War Missing Persons

Haj Omran border, on the border between Iran and Kurdistan, Iraq October (File photo: Reuters)
Haj Omran border, on the border between Iran and Kurdistan, Iraq October (File photo: Reuters)
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Iraq, Iran to Search for Remains of War Missing Persons

Haj Omran border, on the border between Iran and Kurdistan, Iraq October (File photo: Reuters)
Haj Omran border, on the border between Iran and Kurdistan, Iraq October (File photo: Reuters)

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.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.