Iran says won’t extend Iraq deadline for disarming Kurdish armed groups

By Zahir Sofuoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) – Iran will not extend a deadline set for Baghdad to disarm and relocate Kurdish armed groups from northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, the Iranian defense minister said Sunday.

Iran "will carry out a last-minute assessment of the situation before making the final decision,” Mohammad Reza Ashtihani said in statements cited by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Last month, Iran announced an agreement with the Iraqi government on “disarming and relocating” the “armed terrorist groups” in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region by Sept. 19.

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

This January, Iran accused Kurdish groups in northern Iraq of carrying out an attack on a military facility in the central city of Isfahan, which was reportedly thwarted.

The incident came less than two months after the IRGC fired missiles and drones at targets in the Kurdish region, killing at least 13 people.

Last month, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned that if the Iraqi authorities do not act, the Iranian military will resume its operations.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar