Iranian Justice Minister Morteza Bakhtiari and Iraqi Justice Minister Hassan ash-Shammari signed the agreement Sunday.
Iranian state television said the agreement will allow the “repatriation of convicts and criminals, including those who have fled their country, to stand trial and await implementation of their sentences.”
The accord appeared to have two parts. One was an extradition agreement under which one country can apply to take custody of a wanted person in the other country. The second part seemed to be astandard prisoner exchange agreement under which nationals sentenced in another country may be sent home to serve out their time in a prison in their home country.
Under an extradition agreement, Iran could certainly seek custody of Mojahedin members one-by-one. In a normal extradition treaty, it would have to cite them by name and provide sufficient evidence to warrant trial.
Iran did not specifically name the Mojahedin-e Khalq as a target of the agreement, but Judiciary Chairman Sadeq Larijani, who attended the signing, mentioned the Mojahedin in his remarks and lauded Iraq for taking action against the group.
Before the United States turned Camp Ashraf over to the Iraqis, it obligated the Iraqi government to pledge that it would never return any members of the group to Iran against their will.
It remains to be seen if the Iraqi government will treat that agreement or the new extradition agreement as superior.
As for the prisoner exchange, Iranian state television said there are 302 Iranians held in Iraqi prisons and 184 Iraqi nationals in Iranian prisons.
