ABADAN, Khuzestan Province The bodies of 38 Iranian martyrs of the 1980-88 Iraqi-imposed war were delivered to Iran via the Shalamcheh borderpoint in this southwestern province.

Head of the Committee for searching the bodies of those missing in action (MIA), Brigadier Mir-Feisal Baqerzadeh, said here on Tuesday that the bodies of the Iranian martyrs were exchanged with those of 332 Iraqi soldiers in Shalamcheh yesterday.

He said that Iranian and Iraqi officials held a meeting on Monday which decided to continue the countries' joint search operations to locate bodies of those killed in the eight-year war.

During the meeting, the Iranian and Iraqi officials agreed to increase the number of search groups in the Ammareh-Fakkeh region to three from the previous one group so that search operations could be accelerated, he said.

Brigadier Baqerzadeh further said that it was also agreed in the meeting that the bodies of Iranian prisoners of war (POWs) martyred in Iraqi camps is delivered to the Islamic Republic after exhumation.

(IRNA)