Iran holds nationwide funerals for unidentified soldiers

Residents in Khuzestan welcomed the remains of 18 Iranian war dead returned from Iraq through the Shalamcheh crossing.

A medical assistance and protection course opened in Tehran, where speakers discussed using Iran’s wartime treatment experience to improve responses to chemical incidents.

Iran, Iraq and the ICRC began a technical workgroup in Mazandaran to coordinate searches, recovery and identification linked to people missing from the war.

At the OPCW states conference, Reza Najafi renewed a request for help meeting Iranian chemical-war victims’ medical needs and attributed medication difficulties to sanctions.

Residents gathered in Kish for a Friday evening funeral honoring soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq War, according to Iran Press.

The ICRC reported that the 2023 mechanism had returned 111 sets of remains to Iran and 13 to Iraq, while calling for sustained efforts to clarify missing-person cases.

Iraq’s defense ministry reported returning 118 Iranian soldiers’ remains through Shalamcheh and Zurbatiyah after searches in four Iraqi provinces.

An ICRC FAQ rejected rumors of a new Iran-Iraq POW repatriation and said both governments considered the POW file closed. That did not end searches for missing people.

Iran Press reported nationwide funerals for 300 unidentified Iran-Iraq War soldiers, including 100 in Tehran.