Iran says deal reached with Iraq to ‘disarm, relocate’ terrorist groups

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran said on Monday it has reached an agreement with the Iraqi government on disarming and relocating “armed terrorist groups” in northern Iraq by next month.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters that the Iraqi government has “committed to disarming the armed separatist terrorist groups.”

As per the agreement, he said, the groups will be evacuated from the military barracks and transferred to camps as planned by the Iraqi government by September 19.

He, however, didn’t specify where the armed groups will be transferred.

Kanaani affirmed that relations between Iran and Iraq are “completely friendly and brotherly” based on “good neighborliness.”

Iraqi media said the agreement will be implemented in six months and September 19 has been set as a final date for disarming Kurdish armed groups and their relocation from the border area.

Iranian authorities have often protested what it calls the presence of “terrorist groups” in northern Iraq, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carrying out a series of drone and missile strikes late last year on their positions.

In January this year, Iran accused Kurdish armed groups in northern Iraq of carrying out an attack on a military facility in central Isfahan city, which was thwarted.
Nour News, affiliated with Iran’s top security body, said at the time that the micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) and explosives used in the attack were smuggled into Iran from northern Iraq and “ordered by a foreign intelligence agency”, in a veiled reference to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

The incident came less than two months after the IRGC carried out missile and drone attacks against militant targets in northern Iraq, killing at least 13 people.

In March, Iran’s then-security chief Ali Shamkhani visited Iraq and held talks with Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), with border security featuring prominently in their discussions.

During the visit, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on border security.
Last month, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, warned Iraq over the continued presence and activities of Kurdish armed groups in the region bordering Iran.

He said if the Iraqi authorities do not act, the Iranian military will resume operations against the groups.

Bagheri’s remarks came after IRGC ground forces commander Gen. Mohammad Pakpour said Iran is “waiting for the Iraqi government to live up to its commitment and we have given them a chance.”