Iranians in Iraq

Iraqi Persians (, إيرانيو العراق) or Iranians in Iraq (, الإيرانيون في العراق) are Iraqi citizens of Iranian descent and background. Iranians have had a long presence in Iraq, since the Fall of Babylon.

History
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Saddam Hussein exiled between 350,000 to 650,000 Iraqi citizens of Iranian ancestry. Most of them went to Iran. Most could prove an Iranian ancestry in Iran's court received Iranian citizenship (400,000) and some of them returned to Iraq immediately after his fall. The population of Iraqis of Iranian descent is currently 486,000 (not including Iranian residents in Iraq).

Culture
Most Persian Iraqis belong to Twelver Shīʿa Islam, the same religion that most Iraqis belong to.