During the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq established a network of camps to hold Iranian prisoners of war (POWs), with reports indicating a total of 21 such facilities distributed across several governorates: 6 in Al-Anbar, 4 in Nineveh, 9 in Salah al-Din, 1 in Diyala, and 1 in Baghdad itself.

With the outbreak of the Iran– Iraq War and the growing issue of the POWs, the Baathist regime established camps in various Iraqi cities to accommodate captives. The POW camps were located in the military districts of Ramadi (Al‑Anbar Governorate), Mosul (Nineveh Governorate), Tikrit (Salah al‑Din Governorate), Baqubah (Diyala Governorate), and Baghdad (Baghdad Governorate). Before Iranian POWs arrived, these sites had served as military barracks; with the start of the war, they were repurposed as POW camps.⁠[1] All of these camps were built in predominantly Sunni areas where supporters of the Baath Party formed the majority.⁠[2]

The first camp for Iranian POWs in Iraq was established in the military zone of Ramadi and became known as the “ Ramadi Camp”. This facility, with a capacity of about 1,200 people, held the Army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the gendarmerie, and volunteer Iranian forces, as well as the residents from border areas such as Qasr‑e Shirin and Kermanshah who had been captured in the early days of Iraq’ s full‑scale invasion. The camp’ s capacity was filled within the first few days of the war.⁠[3]

The capture of additional Iranian forces and residents from southern Iran, such as Abadan and Khorramshahr, led to the establishment of another camp in the military district of Mosul. Among the captives were a number of officers and pilots, some of whom the Baathists transferred to camps and others to prisons. This situation continued for about a year, with Iranian POWs being sent to these two camps.⁠[4]

In September 1981, the Baathists removed a group of captured officers and co‑pilots— who had been taken roughly a year earlier and had spent that time in Abu Ghraib Prison (known as the Police Prison and the Dar al‑Masajin Prison)⁠[5] in the Abu Ghraib area and around Khanzari, some 34 kilometers from Baghdad⁠[6]— and transferred them to a camp in the Ramadi military zone. Thus, a second camp was formed in Ramadi. Because it was located in Al‑Anbar Governorate, the Baathists named this camp “ Anbar”. The camp’ s sign read “ Anbar”, but the POWs pronounced it “ ʿAnbar” — the name begins with the Arabic ʿayn sound (written as ʿ), not the plain “ a” of Anbar. Because of this mispronunciation of the English word on the gate, Iranian POWs came to call the facility “ ʿAnbar”, and the name stuck.

Following pperations Tariq al‑Quds and Matla al‑Fajr in 1981, the Iranians captured in those operations were transferred to the newly established ʿAnbar Camp. After capturing several Iranian doctors, the Baathists moved them from prison to ʿAnbar and designated four of the camp’ s barracks as a hospital. Thereafter, wounded POWs were first brought to this camp for initial treatment and then transferred to other camps.⁠[7]

On June 13, 1982, 500 POWs who had been taken during operations Fath al‑Mubin and Beit al‑Muqaddas were moved to a camp in Mosul. Therefore, the first section of the Mosul Camp was opened. This camp, larger than other ones in Mosul, became known as the Greater Mosul Camp. About one month later, Operation Ramazan took place during which about 1,200 Iranians were captured. The Baathists transferred 500 POWs to Mosul Camp 2A and moved the 1,200 individuals captured in Operation Ramazan to establish section B of Mosul Camp 1.⁠[8]

Some time later, the Baathists began segregating the POWs according to their religious beliefs. On September 7, 1982, they opened another camp in Mosul called Mosul Camp 4; this camp was designated for religiously committed POWs and, according to the Baathists, “ subversives”, and it became known as “ Haras Khomeini” (Khomeini Guard). The camp initially received devout and committed POWs from Mosul Camp 2A; several months later, similar POWs from Mosul Camp 1 were transferred there.⁠[9]

After a severe clash in early 1983 between the POWs in the Ramadi Camp and the Baathist forces, they transferred about 200 religiously committed and active POWs from Ramadi to Mosul 3 (Camp 4; Haras Khomeini), thereby reducing the population of the Ramadi Camp.⁠[10]

In 1982, for the first time, Iraqi forces encountered a notable group of adolescents among the Iranian captives taken during Operation Beit al-Muqaddas. Consequently, after clearing religiously committed POWs from Ramadi, the Baathists sought to gather adolescent POWs in one place for propaganda purposes. Therefore, the adolescent POWs captured during operations Beit al-Muqaddas and Muharram (transferred from ʿAnbar Camp) as well as those taken in Operation Valfajr Muqaddamati (transferred from Mosul Camp 1) were all moved to Ramadi Camp and placed in Sector 3.⁠[11]

Mosul Camp 3A, the fourth camp in Mosul, opened in late 1983 with the arrival of POWs from Mosul Camps 1, 2, and 3 and ʿAnbar Camp. However, it was closed after three months and the POWs returned to their original camps. Concurrent with the start of Operation Kheibar, some of the Iranian POWs were moved to this camp and then to Mosul Camp 2. Therefore, the first section of that camp (2A) was closed in early 1984 after 1,700 POWs taken in Operation Kheibar were transferred, and a second section— Mosul Camp 2B— was opened.⁠[12]

Iranian POWs transferred from Mosul Camp 2A to ʿAnbar Camp were housed in Sector 1, which was designated for officers. As a result of this arrangement, the camp hospital was reduced to just two barracks. Following the establishment of Tikrit Camp 5A, all Iranian officers from ʿAnbar were relocated there. Tikrit 5A was then designated for Iranian officers and non‑commissioned officers. Initially, a number of regular soldiers were kept in the camp to handle the officers’ daily needs and support services. However, as the number of captured officers grew and more were transferred in, these soldiers eventually were removed from the facility. After POWs from Mosul Camp 2A arrived in Ramadi, changes occurred: religiously committed POWs were moved out, and adolescents were placed in Sector 13.⁠[13]

After Operation Kheibar, Iraqi forces took around 400 adolescent Iranians POWs. Then, the Baathist regime decided to concentrate these adolescent POWs— known as Atfal (children) — in a single specialized facility. In April 1984, Iraqis established a new camp between the existing Ramadi and ʿAnbar facilities. Adolescent POWs previously held in Ramadi Camp and Mosul Camp 2B were transferred there. This camp, coming after Ramadi 1, was called Ramadi 2 (Camp 7). It was also nicknamed Bayn al-Qafasayn (Between the Cages) due to its location between Ramadi and ʿAnbar camps, and Camp of the Atfal (Children) because of its primary population of teenage Iranian POWs (15-18 years old).⁠[14]

In April 1984, the Baathist regime reestablished Mosul Camp 3B for the second time by bringing in nearly 700 religiously committed and active POWs from Mosul Camps 1 and 4.⁠[15]

Another facility formed in 1984 was Ramadi 3 (Ramadi 9A). This camp was opened after roughly 250 Iranians were captured in Operation Badr; later, the POWs who had been taken in operations Qader 1 and 2 (July-September 1985) — about 400 people — were transferred there.⁠[16]

In spring 1986, around 3,000 Iranians were captured by Iraqis forces. The Baathist regime moved roughly 1,500 of them to Ramadi Camp 10, then transferred the POWs from Ramadi 9A to Ramadi 7, and the remainder to Ramadi 9. Therefore, the second section of that camp (9B) was opened.⁠[17]

After Operation Karbala 4 in early 1987, a facility was established in Tikrit called Camp 11. The POWs in this camp were the first group the Baathists refused to register with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Iranians captured in 1987– 1988, after operations Karbala 5 and Karbala 6, were also moved to this camp.⁠[18]

In May 1987, about 150 religiously committed and active POWs from Ramadi Camps 6, 7, and 8 (ʿAnbar) and Mosul Camps 1, 2, 3, and 4 were moved to a newly established facility near the officers’ camp in Tikrit; it was named Camp 5 or Leaders’ Camp.⁠[19]

About one year later, around 600 Iranian forces were taken by Iraqis during the recapture of Al-Faw. To house the new POWs, Camp 12 was established in Tikrit with a capacity of 4,000. Later, the Iranian POWs taken in Operation Beit al‑Muqaddas 7 were also transferred to this camp.⁠[20]

In 1988, a few days before and after the acceptance of the UN Security Council Resolution, the Baathists launched large operations across various regions and took about 25,000 Iranian forces (mostly Army personnel) as POWs. Some of them were sent to Tikrit Camp 12, while the remainder (about 2,000) were placed in a new camp in Ramadi called Camp 13. Old Ramadi Camp and Camp 6 were closed, and their POWs moved to Camps 7, 8, 9, and 10. Mosul Camp 3, known as Small Mosul, was also emptied of its older POWs (about 1,000), and they were transferred to Mosul Camps 1, 2, and 4.⁠[21]

Alongside the officers’ Camp 5 and the Leaders’ Camp, another facility was built for newly captured Iranian Army POWs. This camp (5J) had a capacity of 1,200 and was one of the facilities classified as an “ unregistered POWs” camp.⁠[22]

Because of the large number of Iranian POWs, the Baathist regime decided to open multiple camps in Tikrit, including Camps 14, 15, and 16.⁠[23] Subsequently, about 3,500 of these POWs— comprising Army, Basij, and IRGC personnel, many of them young conscripts— were moved to a camp near Baghdad. Located in the Nahrawan area, it became known as Nahrawan Camp (Camp 17).⁠[24]

A camp was also established in Baqubah, named Camp 18. Its population consisted mainly of Iranian Army POWs and held about 5,000 people.⁠[25]

Among the Iranian forces captured in July 1988 were many officers and non-commissioned officers. The Baathist regime identified and separated these higher-ranking POWs during initial interrogations in temporary holding sites or prisons, and then transferred them to Al‑Rashid Garrison, where they were held for two months. During this time, the officer POWs from Tikrit Camp 11 were also brought in to join them. Finally, in October 1988, the Baathist regime set up a dedicated camp for these officers and transferred them from the prison facilities to the new site. Known as Camp 19, it was reserved exclusively for unregistered Iranian officers.⁠[26]

In May 1989, Iraqis decided to evacuate Nahrawan Camp because of its proximity to Baghdad and the risk of detection by Red Cross representatives. They established another camp in Tikrit called Camp 20, which housed about 800 POWs from Nahrawan. The remaining POWs were transferred to Camps 18 (Baqubah) and 16 (Tikrit).⁠[27]

Camps 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, and 20 in Tikrit and Camp 18 in Baqubah were among the “ unregistered” camps run by the Baathist regime. These facilities were deliberately kept off the official lists provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), meaning the prisoners held there were classified as unregistered. As a result, the Iranian POWs in these camps endured exceptionally harsh and dehumanizing conditions, living day-to-day in profound anxiety, uncertainty, and an atmosphere of suffocating repression.⁠[28]

Tikrit Camp 17 was the last camp established in Iraq before the POW exchanges began. Following a clash between the Iranian POWs in Ramadi Camp 6 and members of the Monafiqeen, the Baathist authorities transferred approximately 400 POWs from that camp to Tikrit Camp 17. This transfer effectively marked the establishment of Camp 17, where the religiously committed and active POWs from other Ramadi camps were relocated.

Iraq gathered roughly 1,700 POWs from the Ramadi camps in this facility for torture and exile. The Baathists saw this camp as a place for subversives and troublemakers.⁠[29]

With the end of the Iran-Iraq War and two years after the acceptance of Resolution 598, the POW exchanges began. The first group of Iranian POWs was released through an exchange from Mosul Camp 1 and returned to Iran. Thereafter, all POWs held in the Ramadi and Mosul camps, the officers’ and leaders’ camps (Camp 5), Tikrit Camp 17, and finally those held in unregistered POW camps (Camps 19 and 20 in Tikrit) were exchanged and came back to Iran.⁠[30]

Camp commanders were usually colonels. Although camp administration directives came from a central authority, conditions varied slightly from camp to camp depending on the commander’ s skill and management style. Typically, a camp commander was a dictator who showed no mercy even to his own forces; the smallest mistake was met with severe punishment. Camp guards were often poorly educated, morally corrupt, and staunch Baathists. These guards generally came from three groups: relatives of those killed or captured in the war, war‑disabled veterans, and children or relatives of senior Iraqi army officers.⁠[31]

The Iranian POWs also organized meaningful activities within the camps.

They elected a camp senior, a spiritual, and a leadership council. This self-governing body managed the camp’ s daily internal affairs, coordinated group decisions, and handled interactions and negotiations with the Baathist guards and authorities. Whenever the Iraqis allowed it— or, more often, in secret— the POWs organized educational classes or religious ceremonies.⁠[32]

In the Iraqi POW camps, the rights of prisoners were repeatedly and systematically violated, leaving them deprived of even the most basic necessities of life. When arriving at the camps, new Iranian POWs were often forced to pass through a the “ tunnel of terror”. Iraqi guards lined both sides and brutally beat the POWs with cables, metal angles, wooden sticks, and other improvised weapons as they ran or walked through.⁠[33] Torture methods that the Baathists used in POW camps included cutting off water supply and drastically reducing food rations, solitary confinement or lockdown inside barracks for several days, flogging with whips, beating with metal rods and batons, hanging the person from the ceiling, fans, or beams with hands tied behind the back, suspending heavy objects from the POW’ s body, forcing the POWs to swallow soap bars or laundry detergent powder, depriving them of sleep and rest for extended periods, burning the body with hot irons, pulling out fingernails or toenails, administering electric shocks (often through wires attached to body, especially the ears), breaking bones deliberately, mutilation or amputation of body parts in extreme cases, blinding the eyes, stuffing POWs into sacks and throwing them from heights, staircases, or rooftops, and forcing ingestion of narcotics or injecting anesthetic/amnesiac drugs particularly during Muharram.⁠[34]