Iraq
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji at the Mohammed Alaa Airbase in Baghdad, Iraq before heading to Erbil on September 18, 2023. Photo: Araji’s office
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s national security advisor arrived in Erbil as the head of a high-level delegation to ensure the implementation of a security agreement with Iran to disarm Kurdish opposition groups, state media reported, with Tehran having set September 19 as the ultimatum.
Qasim al-Araji “headed to Erbil as the head of a high-level security delegation” to “follow up on the implementation of the security agreement between Iraq and Iran,” Iraqi state media reported.
Tehran has long accused the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of harboring opposition groups it considers “terrorists” and allowing them to use the border areas as a launchpad for attacks against Iran.
Waad Qado, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, said on Monday that Iraq has requested an extension of the deadline.
“The Iraqi government has requested the deadline to be extended to fully implement the agreement regarding tightening the borders and removing Iranian opposition forces to tighten the borders,” Qado told Rudaw’s Hastyar Qadir.
In March, Iran and Iraq signed a border protection deal, in which Baghdad agreed to a September 19 deadline to disarm the Kurdish opposition groups and secure the border regions. The Iranian military in July threatened to use military action if Baghdad fails to meet the deadline.
In a presser with his Iranian counterpart on Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said that several groups have already been disarmed and that camps are being set up in an undisclosed location for the groups to be relocated to.
Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region - namely the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) - have been accused of fueling the nationwide protest movement in Iran last year and inciting unrest in the country. The groups, struggling for greater rights for Iran’s marginalized Kurdish population, have fought an on-and-off war with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian armed forces have carried out many attacks on the alleged positions of these groups, including using both ballistic missiles and drones.
The KRG, which has cordial relations with Tehran, has on several occasions called on neighboring countries and armed Kurdish groups to not use the Region’s land as an arena to settle scores.
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