• Sulaiman Umar
• 15 Sep, 2023
• View 350

TEHRAN - President Ebrahim Raisi has reiterated Iran’s repeated calls that the Islamic Republic will not tolerate the presence of separatist militant groups on its borders with Iraq.

Talking to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Tehran on Wednesday, Raisi urged Iraq to honor its security commitments with Tehran regarding the separatist militants.
Separatist militant groups in Kurdish-populated regions in northwestern Iran use the northern Iraqi Kurdistan as a safe haven to commit acts of terror in in border areas with Iran in the northwest. Based an agreement that Iran signed with Iraq in March, the central Baghdad government and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are legally obligated to disarm separatist groups and not allow them to use the border region for terrorist acts. 

Raisi reminded Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein how Iran rushed to Iraq’s help when Daesh made surprise attacks against Iraq and occupied large swathes of the country’s soil.
"During the days that Iraq was besieged by the Daesh terrorist group, the Islamic Republic did not withhold any assistance from Iraq, proving itself to be Iraq's friend during its tough days," Raisi said, according to Press TV.

Hussein, for his part, said Baghdad is fully committed to the implementation of security agreements with Iran.

"The Iraqi government will, under no circumstances, allow any movement or group to use the country's soil to pose a threat or perpetrate an incursion against the borders of Iraq's neighbors, especially the Islamic Republic, or let them deploy themselves on the Iraqi soil," he emphasized.

In a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian on the same day, Foreign Minister Hussein announced the militant groups will be transferred to camps supervised by the United Nations.

The Iraqi constitution does not allow any group to use Iraqi territory to attack other countries, he said, adding the security agreement between the two neighboring countries is based on Iraq’s constitution.

He also said the Baghdad government and the Kurdistan region are cooperating with each other in this regard and both insist the need to implement the security agreement.
Amir Abdollahian also told reporters that Iran is unwavering on its national security.

He said good information was exchanged regarding the removal of the militant separatist groups from areas close to Iran’s borders.
“Efforts are underway to disarm them and fully implement the clauses of the security agreement between the two countries,” Press TV quoted the Iranian foreign minister as saying.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said the ultimatum given to Iraq to disarm the separatist groups will not be extended.
"Iran’s stance is completely clear. According to the agreement reached with the Iraqi government, the final deadline for the disarmament of the terrorist and separatist forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region ends on September 19 and that deadline will not be extended in any way," Kanaani told a regular news briefing. 

Military officials in Iran has warned Iraq that if the Baghdad government and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan fail to deal with the separatists the Islamic Republic will resume drone and missile attacks on the hideouts of the militants.

Nechirvan Barzani, the KRG president, has said the Iraqi Kurdistan region is dedicated to the security pact between Iran and Iraq and would not permit anybody to pose a danger to Tehran.

Barzani made the comments on Monday at a meeting with Mohammad Kazem Ale-Sadeq, the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad.

Also in a meeting in Tehran on Monday with Bafel Talabani, the leader of Iraq’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said the presence of terrorists in the Iraqi Kurdistan region violates the constitution of the Arab nation and is incompatible with friendly ties between Tehran and Baghdad.

“The presence of terrorists in the Kurdistan region and their moves against security of Iran are incompatible with Iraq’s constitution and friendly bilateral relations because no party should be allowed to harm the security of Iraq’s neighbors,” Iran’s top diplomat remarked.

For his part, Bafel Talabani said Iraq will not let any damage emanate from its territory to neighboring countries, notably Iran, and cited his party’s efforts to increase security along the borders of the Kurdistan region.

Talabani’s office also issued a statement in which the PUK leader explained, “Our goal is to achieve stability and coexistence in the region, for which we support responsible dialogue and understanding and believe that this is the only way to overcome problems and achieve national goals.”

Culled from Tehran Times