Iran and Iraq reached a deal to disarm and switch armed terrorist teams in Northern Iraq by mid-September, Tehran stated Monday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani instructed reporters that the Iraqi authorities has “committed to disarming the armed separatist terrorist groups.”
As per the settlement, he stated, the teams will likely be evacuated from the army barracks and transferred to camps as deliberate by the Iraqi authorities by Sept. 19.
He, nonetheless, did not specify the place the armed teams will likely be transferred.
Kanaani affirmed that relations between Iran and Iraq are “completely friendly and brotherly” based mostly on “good neighborliness.”
Iraqi media stated the settlement will likely be applied in six months and Sept. 19 has been set as a closing date for disarming terrorist armed teams and their relocation from the border space.
Iranian authorities have usually protested what it calls the presence of “terrorist groups” in northern Iraq, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) finishing up a collection of drone and missile strikes late final yr on their positions.
In January this yr, Iran accused the PKK-linked terrorist teams in northern Iraq of finishing up an assault on a army facility in central Isfahan metropolis, which was thwarted.
Nour News, affiliated with Iran’s prime safety physique, stated on the time that the micro aerial autos (MAVs) and explosives used within the assault have been 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 got here lower than two months after the IRGC carried out missile and drone assaults in opposition to militant targets in northern Iraq, killing not less than 13 individuals.
In March, Iran’s then-security chief Ali Shamkhani visited Iraq and held talks with Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with border safety that includes prominently of their discussions.
During the go to, the 2 sides signed a memorandum of understanding on border safety.
Last month, the chief of workers of the Iranian armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, warned Iraq over the continued presence and actions of Kurdish armed teams within the area bordering Iran.
He stated if the Iraqi authorities don’t act, the Iranian army will resume operations in opposition to the teams.
Bagheri’s remarks got here after IRGC floor forces commander Gen. Mohammad Pakpour stated Iran is “waiting for the Iraqi government to live up to its commitment and we have given them a chance.”
An Iraqi authorities official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to talk to the media, confirmed the settlement was signed between the 2 international locations and stated the central authorities in Baghdad is “working as quickly as possible” to relocate the teams with the approval of authorities from the Kurdish regional authorities in Irbil and Sulaimaniyah.
He declined to offer the precise location to which the disarmed militants can be moved, however stated it might be inside the KRG-administered area. He stated they “will have a camp to live in and will be without arms.”
Different Iranian dissident teams in Iraq are aligned with every of the 2 major Iraqi Kurdish events – the Kurdistan Democratic Party, with its seat of energy in Irbil, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan celebration, whose stronghold is in Suleimaniyah – and are at odds with one another in addition to with Iran.
“Previously Sulaimaniyah would accuse Irbil of working with these groups, and Irbil would accuse Sulaimaniyah of working with them, but as a central government we agreed to relocate them,” the Iraqi official stated. “We are trying as hard as possible for this to take place on Sept. 19.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani got here to energy final yr through a coalition of Iranian-backed events and is seen as near Iran, though he has additionally tried to construct ties with the United States and Türkiye.
A spokesman for Sudani, Hisham al-Rikabi, stated in an announcement that the prime minister “has spoken on more than one occasion about the government’s refusal for the Iraqi land to be … a launching pad for targeting neighboring countries.”
In addition to disarming the militant teams and eradicating their bases, he stated, the settlement with Iran guarantees that Iraq will deploy border guards to stop the “infiltration of militants” throughout the border and can hand over wished suspects to Iran “after the issuance of arrest warrants in accordance with the law.”
Baghdad allotted some $7 million for the development of latest border posts to stop illicit motion throughout the border.
Iran has lengthy accused Iraq’s KRG area of harboring terrorist teams concerned in assaults in opposition to the Islamic Republic, with the Revolutionary Guards repeatedly concentrating on their bases.
Northern Iraq is named the placement of many PKK terrorist hideouts and bases from the place they perform assaults in Türkiye. The Turkish army usually conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq. Türkiye has lengthy been stressing that it’s going to not tolerate terrorist threats posed in opposition to its nationwide safety and has known as on Iraqi officers to take vital steps to eradicate the terrorist group. Ankara beforehand famous that if the anticipated steps weren’t taken, it might not draw back from concentrating on terrorist threats.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
