Iran returns first group of Kurdish prisoners based on exchange deal with KRG

 
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Iranian authorities are expected to return five Kurdish prisoners to the Kurdistan Region next week, according to an earlier prisoner exchange agreement signed between Erbil and Tehran.
 
The five prisoners will be handed over to the Kurdish authorities at the Haji Omran border crossing next week, said Abdullah Akreyi, head of Iran-KRG relations in Kurdistan’s Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
 
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on prisoner exchange last July.
 
“Swapping prisoners will be with the consent of the prisoners and not compulsory,” Ahmed Najmaddin, KRG’s head of Social Works department told Rudaw.
 
“There are 159 Iranian prisoners in the Kurdistan Region,” said Najmaddin.
 
Most of the prisoners in both countries are serving terms for various felonies and small offenses.
 
According to Akreyi, the KRG has so far returned 96 Iranian prisoners since the agreement was signed.
 
The five are the first batch of 11 prisoners Iran has agreed to return in the coming weeks.