Iran releases Iraqi prisoners

The spokesman for the prisoners committee in Iran, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Balar, said on Friday in Tehran that his country will release 480 Iraqi prisoners, but he gave no date for the release.

The spokesman added that following the negotiations held by the Iranian committee with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Iran has decided to release 480 Iraqi prisoners after it recently released 2,000 Iraqi prisoners, unilaterally.

Iran asked Iraq to make haste in releasing its captives to end this issue which has continued for more than 12 years.

General Abdullah Bakhfi, head of the Iranian committee for prisoners of war asserted that the number of Iranian captives in Iraq reached 3,206.

Iraq has released 39,417 Iranian captives while Iran has released 57,712 Iraqi captives.