Prisoner swap: Over 40 Iranians back from Iraq

Shafaq News/ Iran has repatriated 43 of its nationals from Iraqi prisons to serve the remainder of their sentences at home، Iranian Deputy Minister of Justice for Human Rights and International Affairs Askar Jalalian said on Saturday.

Of the total, 20 inmates — including 16 men and 4 women — were transferred from detention facilities in the Kurdistan Region. An additional 23 prisoners were returned from correctional centers in Al-Sulaymaniyah province after the completion of legal procedures, according to Jalalian.

“In the past month alone, 180 Iranian convicts have been transferred from various countries under similar agreements,” the official added.

In February, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadegh, announced that 130 Iranian inmates had been repatriated from Iraq as part of the eighth phase of the bilateral agreement.

The prisoner exchange deal between Iraq and Iran was first signed in 2014 under the government of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It allows convicted nationals to complete their sentences in their home countries.

Iran has engaged in several high-profile prisoner swaps in recent years, including a September 2023 deal with the United States that saw five Americans released in exchange for five Iranians and access to frozen assets, a June 2024 exchange with Sweden mediated by Oman, and a January 2025 swap with Italy involving journalist Cecilia Sala and an Iranian engineer held on US charges.