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Lion and Sun still used by Iraqi Persians[citation needed] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Karbalā', Najaf, Baghdad, Suleymaniyah, Maysan, Basra | |
| 486,000 | |
| 400,000[1] | |
| Languages | |
| Persian, Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish | |
| Religion | |
| Twelver Shiʿa Islam[2] (minority Sunni Islam) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Iranian diaspora (Iranians of UAE • Ajam of Bahrain • Ajam of Qatar • Ajam of Iraq • 'Ajam of Kuwait • Iranians of Canada • Iranians of America • Iranians of UK • Iranians of Germany • Iranians of Israel • Iranians in Turkey) Iranian Peoples (Lurs, Achomis, Baluchs, Kurds, Iranian Azeris), Turkic peoples (Qashqai, Azerbaijanis), Huwala | |
Iranians in Iraq (Persian: ایرانیان در عراق, Arabic: الإيرانيون في العراق), are Iraqi citizens of Iranian background. Iranians have had a long presence in Iraq, since the Fall of Babylon.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Saddam Hussein exiled between 350,000[4][5][3] to 650,000 Iraqi citizens of Iranian ancestry.[1] 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.[1] The population of Iraqis of Iranian descent is currently 486,000[citation needed] (not including Iranian residents in Iraq).
Most Feiyli Iraqis belong to Twelver Shīʿa Islam, the same religious sect that most Iraqis and Iranis belong to.[3]
While the Iraq side of Kurds on the other hand follow mostly Sunni Islam.