Iraqi Persians (Persian: ایرانیان عراق, Arabic: إيرانيو العراق) or Iranians in Iraq (Persian: ایرانیان در عراق, Arabic: الإيرانيون في العراق) are Iraqi citizens of Iranian descent and background. Iranians have had a long presence in Iraq, since the Fall of Babylon.
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Karbalā', Najaf, Baghdad, Suleymaniyah, Maysan, Basra | |
 Iraq | 486,000 |
 Iran | 400,000[1] |
| Languages | |
| Persian, Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish | |
| Religion | |
| Shiʿa Islam[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| 'Ajam of Kuwait | |
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Saddam Hussein exiled between 350,000[3][4] 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 Persian Iraqis belong to Twelver Shīʿa Islam, the same religion that most Iraqis belong to.