During the imposed war, approximately 500 Iranian personnel and 10,000 Iraqi personnel sought refuge in the opposing country.

Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the outbreak of the imposed war, an appropriate opportunity arose for opponents of the political systems of the two countries to seek refuge in the opposing country. Iranian and Iraqi refugees during the imposed war can be divided into three categories:

The first category consisted of political-military parties and groups that, by seeking collective refuge in the opposing country, continued their struggle against its government. The Islamic Dawa Party, the Islamic Struggle Organization, the Movement of Mujahid Scholars of Iraq, and the Iraqi Mujahideen Movement⁠[1] were among the Iraqi opposition organizations that sought refuge in Iran during the imposed war and officially operated there. In contrast, the People' s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MKO/MEK, the “ Monafeqin”),⁠[2] royalist groups⁠[3], terrorist groups, and separatist groups in western Iran⁠[4] also sought refuge in Iraq and continued their struggle against Iran' s newly established political system from there.

The second category consisted of military and political figures who, after fleeing, sought refuge in the opposing country and engaged in activities against their own country. In the case of military refugees, these individuals usually also transferred quantities of weapons to the opposing country. Ali Moradkhani Arangeh, known as Sheikh Ali Tehrani (a member of the Assembly of Experts for the Constitution),⁠[5] and Ahmad Moradi Talami (an F-14 fighter pilot)⁠[6] and Khaledeh Abd al-Qahhar (a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq and Saddam Hussein' s secretary)⁠[7] were among the most prominent Iranian and Iraqi military and political refugees.

The third category consisted of military personnel who sought refuge in the opposing country during military operations or decided to seek refuge while they were prisoners of war. During the imposed war, among Iranian prisoners of war, 500 people sought refuge in Iraq or other countries;⁠[8] among Iraqi prisoners of war in Iran, 10,336 people sought refuge in Iran.⁠[9]

During the imposed war, both countries used the capabilities of refugees for activities such as interrogating prisoners of war, translating military and security texts, monitoring enemy meetings and conversations, and participating in military operations against the opposing side. In Iran, Iraqi refugees initially cooperated sporadically with Iraqi Kurdish opposition groups (opponents of Saddam) on the western fronts, or infiltrated Iraqi territory and conducted operations against the Ba' ath Party and government centers. However, after the expansion of Iraqi migration to Iran, the arrival of Iraqi military personnel as refugees, and their presence within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' military organization, officials of the Islamic Republic organized these individuals. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also placed Shahid Ghayour-Asli Garrison in western Ahvaz at the disposal of the Dawa Party (the largest political opposition organization to Saddam' s government). The Shahid Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad-Baqer Sadr Battalion was initially organized there, and Iraqi Mujahideen opposed to Saddam mainly carried out reconnaissance operations. They also participated in a limited number of operations alongside Iranian forces.

As the imposed war continued, the forces stationed at Shahid Ghayour-Asli Garrison increased to three battalions in 1362 and participated alongside Iranian forces in Operations Badr and Khaybar. In 1364, Ismail Daqaeqi (later martyred) formed the 9th Badr Brigade from Iraqi forces, which participated in Operations Ashura-4, Quds-4, Karbala-2, Karbala-3, Karbala-4, and Karbala-5.⁠[10]

In contrast, the Iraqi Ba' athist government also used the capabilities of terrorist groups opposed to Iran that had sought refuge in Iraq. The military operations Aftab, Chelcheragh, and Forugh-e Javidan, carried out by the People' s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MKO/MEK, the “ Monafeqin”) against Iran⁠[11], as well as the presence of the Rizgari Party' s forces in the Iraqi Army,⁠[12] are examples of cooperation between Iranian opponents and the Ba' athist enemy forces.

The migration of Iraqi asylum seekers to Iran continued in the years after the imposed war. At the beginning of the 1380s SH, nearly 202,000 Iraqi asylum seekers were living in Iran.⁠[13] After the fall of the Ba' athist government in Iraq,⁠[14] the Iranian government approved the “ Regulations on the Return of Iraqi Refugees and Displaced Persons Residing in the Country to Iraq, ”⁠[15]15 which facilitated the process of returning Iraqi asylum seekers to their country.

According to a report by the United Nations Refugee Agency in Tehran, 12,000 Iraqis currently reside in Iran with refugee status.⁠[16]