Abu Taher is a former Iraqi businessman on a pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza. In this documentary he recounts the atrocities he and his fellow countrymen faced during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraq, suffering from sanctions from outside and dictatorship from within, was in a desperate situation in the 1990s. Dissent at home was growing and an implosion was imminent. It was during those days when the popular forces were emerging.

This new documentary produced by Press TV shows how Iran and Iraq have come a long way throughout history in their bilateral ties. Although they experienced a bitter war in the ‘80s, that was only a hiccup in the cordial ties between the two neighbors through thick and thin.

The memory of the eight-year war imposed by then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on Iran with the support of Western states continues to inspire resistance movements, says a war veteran.

Iran is commemorating Sacred Defense Week when the Iraqi Baathist regime and its foreign backers in September 1980 launched a no-holds-barred war against the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani says the ultimatum given to iraq to disarm Kurdish separatist groups will not be extended.

On July 26, 1988, the MKO terror cult, a key ally of Iraqi Baathist regime at the time, launched an attack to overthrow the Islamic Republic. In response, Iran's military launched a counterattack codenamed Operation Mersad that crippled the MKO forces that suffered over 4,800 casualties.