Red Cross: Iran, Iraq agree to cooperate to trace missing from 80s

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iran and Iraq have agreed to work together in tracing thousands of people still missing after the war between the countries in the 1980s, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday. The Red Cross said the neighboring Middle Eastern countries have established how they will gather and share information about the missing and hand over any remains uncovered. The agreement - signed Thursday by representatives from Iran, Iraq and the Red Cross at the neutral organization's headquarters in Geneva - represents "an important step toward easing the heavy burden of thousands of bereaved Iraqi and Iranian families," said Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa. It was the first time Iran and Iraq signed a direct agreement to tackle the problem together. Previously they each dealt separately with the Red Cross, ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said. Iranian and Iraqi officials in Geneva did not immediately return calls.