Tehran, April 26: Iran’s ambassador in Baghdad says a list of some 200 Iranian prisoners held in Iraq has been submitted to the Iraqi government in a bid to secure their pardon.
Hassan Danaeifard said Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has promised to make every effort to grant the inmates’ release after receiving the relevant information from the Iraqi Judiciary, Mehr news agency reported.
The top Iranian envoy urged the Iranians not to travel to Iraq without a visa as they could be handed up a six-year prison term.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Danaeifard said members of the terrorist Mujahedeen Khalq Organization (MKO) are likely to be expelled from Iraq this year.
He stressed that the Iraqi government and nation as well as political groups have all demanded the MKO members leave Iraqi soil.
The top Iranian diplomat also touched upon a recent Tehran-Baghdad agreement to forge closer judicial cooperation, expressing hope lawmakers in both countries will approve it as soon as possible.
Danaeifard further pointed to a memorandum of understanding the two neighbors signed recently to develop shared oil fields.
He added that an Iranian oil and gas delegation is due in Iraq soon to discuss an Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline.
—–Agencies