On Sunday, a ceremony was held to exchange the remains of Iraqi and Iranian soldiers who died in the bloody war that raged between the two countries during the 1980s.

Sources reported that “the handover ceremony of the remains of missing persons from the Iran-Iraq war has now begun between the Iraqi and Iranian sides at the Shalamcheh border crossing east of Basra.”

They added that “the number of remains handed over and received included 70 Iraqis and 48 Iranians.”

According to the images, “most of the remains on the Iraqi side were unidentified.”

The exchange of remains between the two countries takes place periodically, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement of 2008, which was signed under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. However, official statistics regarding the total number of remains exchanged are still unavailable.

The two countries fought a war that lasted eight years, known as the “First Gulf War,” which resulted in the deaths of around one million people from both sides (according to unofficial estimates), in addition to economic losses exceeding one trillion dollars.

Iraqi-Iranian relations have seen a rapprochement since 2003, following the overthrow of former President Saddam Hussein by international forces led by the United States.