TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 3,000 people were killed across Iran in the war launched late February by the United States and Israel, with about 40 percent of the dead requiring forensic identification before being returned to their families, the Iranian Labour News Agency reported on Thursday.
Abbas Masjedi, head of Iran's forensic medicine organization, disclosed the figures at a memorial event marking the 40th day since the death of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Masjedi attributed the initial unidentifiability of some bodies to the type of weapons "the enemy used in attacks on civilians."
He expressed condolences for both officials and civilians killed in the monthlong conflict. ■
