Speaking to reporters in the southwestern province of Khuzestan on Sunday, General Seyed Mohammad Baqerzadeh said the remains of 536 Iranian martyrs have been repatriated from Iraq in the current Iranian year (March 20, 2016 – March 20, 2017)
The official made the remark on the sidelines of a ceremony to repatriate the remains of 165 Iranian martyrs from Iraq at Khoramshahr port, southwest of Iran.
“The pure bodies of martyrs repatriated (today) through the Arvand international waterway were unearthed over the past days,” Baqerzadeh said.
Iraq, under former dictator Saddam Hussein, invaded Iran on September 22, 1980, imposing an eight-year war on its eastern neighbor.
During the war, a huge number of Iranian volunteers joined the armed forces to defend their country against the Iraqi aggressor under the leadership of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini.
The Iraqi imposed war is commemorated in Iran every year as the eight years of Sacred Defense.