Third peace round opens with withdrawal and prisoners as priorities

Khomeini issued policies for postwar reconstruction, including support for veterans and bereaved families, productive investment and less dependence on oil. The message connected recovery with defense...

At the General Assembly, Velayati proposed an international day against chemical warfare and urged preventive measures and punishment, carrying Iran’s accountability demands beyond the ceasefire.

King Fahd made conciliatory remarks about Iran as Saudi Arabia considered improving relations after the ceasefire and the earlier diplomatic rupture.

Iraq proposed exchanging prisoners, describing its offer as a goodwill gesture. For Iran, prisoner returns remained linked to the broader dispute over withdrawal and peace implementation.

Iraq announced the release of 25 Iranian prisoners on a Red Cross aircraft. The return came while broader peace negotiations and prisoner arrangements remained unresolved.

MEES reported a barter arrangement linking Iranian oil with Yugoslav trade, valued at at least $400 million annually.

Iranian and Iraqi legal experts negotiated in Geneva. Velayati maintained that Iraqi troops should leave Iranian territory before the wider return of war prisoners.

Iran and Iraq agreed to an ICRC-supported return of registered sick and wounded prisoners. A planned 20 November start preceded the actual exchange later that month.

Iran and Iraq ended their third round with pledges to uphold the ceasefire but no substantive progress toward permanent peace. Humanitarian negotiations had not resolved the border dispute.

MEES relayed IRNA’s report of NIOC agreeing with Saipem to complete the IGAT-2 gas pipeline. Restoring stalled gas infrastructure formed part of Iran’s postwar economic recovery.