Gen. Mohammad Baqer-zadeh, commander of the military office searching for those missing in action, was quoted Saturday by the Fars news agency as saying, “After years of negotiations and an agreement reached with Iraq, it was decided that an Iranian delegation would visit the Faw region to search for MIAs there. However, the visit could not take place because of obstructive measures by the Americans.”
Baqerzadeh did not explain what “obstructive” action was taken by the United States. The US military has almost 50,000 men still in Iraq.
Baqerzadeh said only, “The American aggressor and occupying forces interfered and prevented the visit to Iraq by the Iranian team, despite the fact that its members had diplomatic passports.
The search for the missing has been going on since the war ended in 1988. As a general rule, Iraqis search the land in Iraq and Iranians search the land in Iran. Each side sends to the other the remains it identifies as belonging to the other side.