TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iraq on Monday repatriated 124 Iranian prisoners to serve the remainder of their jail sentences in Iran, state-run IRIB news agency reported.
The inmates, comprising 111 men and 13 women, had been jailed in Iraq mainly on drug-related crimes, the IRIB quoted Askar Jalalian, Iran's deputy justice minister for human rights and international affairs, as saying.
Jalalian added that the prisoners were repatriated through the Shalamcheh border crossing in southwestern Iran.
According to Mojtaba Shasti Karimi, director general for consular affairs of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the transfer was carried out as part of a 2011 agreement between Iran and Iraq regarding the extradition of prisoners. ■
