Mehran

Mehran (Persian: مهران, also Romanized as Mehrān; formerly, Mansurabad (Persian: منسورآباد), also Romanized as Mansūrābād) is a city in and the capital of Mehran County, Ilam Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 13,118, in 2,958 families. Mehran is located near the Iran's western border with Iraq. Because of its strategic proximity - only two hours' drive from Baghdad - the city has played a continuing role in dealings between Iran and Iraq. In May 1986, during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi forces captured Mehran, on the western plain of the Zagros Mountains in Ilam Province, and pushed eastward to the mountain base. Mehran occupied an important position on the major north-south road, close to the border on the Iranian...