News-Info-Alerts

Re: Iran Seeks 8,700 MIAs in Iraq

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: June 10, 2003

"US obstructions force Iran halt search for MIAs in Iraq

Tehran, Jun 9 - Iran has cited US obstructions for halting the search for the remains of its soldiers within Iraq which was once a battle field during the 1980-1988 Iraqi-imposed war, IRNA reported.

The press on Monday quoted the head of the search committee for the missing in action (MiAs), Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh, as saying that 'any search operation for those missing in action inside Iraq has been put on halt because of the deployment of American troops'.

"The fate of the bodies of 8,700 (Iranian) martyrs of the eight-year imposed war against Iran inside Iraqi territory still remains unaccounted," the daily Jomhuri-ye Eslami quoted him as saying.

Baqerzadeh criticized American and British troops for 'sabotaging search operations for missing Iranians', the paper said.

"The occupying forces are refusing to hand over records on Iranian prisoners of war and those missing in action to the International Committee of the Red Cross," the official said.

"They also preventing the establishment of a trilateral committee between Iran, Kuwait and the Red Cross to search for those missing," he added.

Like Iran, Kuwait says that the fate of several thousands Kuwaitis remain unknown since the 1990 invasion of that country by Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

Tehran has already accused US of intending to 'blackmail' the Islamic Republic on the fate of missing Iranians. It has also said that US-led occupation forces were preventing the transportation of the remains of Iranian soldiers to the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq for pilgrimage.

The Islamic Republic once turned down a British proposal to transfer the bodies of Iranian soldiers, saying this could constitute Tehran's recognition of the US-led invasion of Iraq which Iran strongly opposed.

British troops announced in April that they had found the remains of as many as 200 people in makeshift coffins and plastic bags in an abandoned warehouse near Basra along with faded photos of corpses showing signs of torture and execution.

Baqerzadeh said at the time that the remains were those of Iranian soldiers retrieved in joint recovery operations, and that they were to be repatriated to Iran before the war started.

The Islamic Republic has also said that it considers US-British troops responsible for any threat against Iranian prisoners of war, who may still be in Iraqi custody.

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