ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq and Iran on Sunday exchanged the remains of over 80 soldiers that went missing in action during the Gulf War, state media reported. 

“This morning, the ceremony for exchanging the remains of those missing between the Republic of Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran took place,” Nashat al-Mansouri, an official in charge of the exchange, told Iraqi state media.

Over 79 remains, 41 of which were unidentified, were handed over to Iran, while Iraq received six remains, three of which were identified and three unidentified, Mansouri said. 

Iraq and Iran sporadically exchange the remains of soldiers from the brutal eight-year war between the two countries. 

Iraq, under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, fought a bloody war with the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran from 1980 to 1988. About one million lives from each side were lost over the course of the conflict. 

Over 50,000 soldiers from the Iran-Iraq War remain missing, over three decades after the conflict ended, according to October data from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). 

The 1990-1991 Gulf War was initiated by Baathist Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, under the rule of Hussein. It ended with Operation Desert Storm, launched by a US-led coalition, which expelled Iraqi forces and led to the imposition of hefty war reparations.