Armed groups begin withdrawing from Iraq-Iran border
Armed Kurdish groups in northern Iraq started pulling out from areas near the border with Iran on Tuesday as Baghdad faced the deadline to disarm the groups.
It was part of a security agreement signed between the two countries to disarm the groups and remove their military camps, a report by Al Jazeera said from Suran, near the Iraq-Iran border.
In March, Iran set a deadline of September 19 for the security agreement concluded with Iraq, under which the Iraqi government has promised to disarm terrorist and separatist groups based in the Kurdistan Region, vacate their military barracks, and transfer them to the camps established by the Baghdad government.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has shared positive news received from his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, regarding the joint deal, as reported by AP.
He made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart after their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York on Tuesday.
The Iraqi official also characterized the security pact as the best option to foster good neighborly relations.
Groups to be relocated to five camps
Also on Monday, he announced that Kurdish armed groups along the border with Iran have handed over their heavy weaponry as the deadline for their disarmament and relocation approached. Hussein said the armed groups and their families will be relocated to five camps, which have been set up in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.
The top Iraqi diplomat reiterated his country’s commitment to the security agreement with Iran, saying the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has taken the necessary measures in accordance with Baghdad’s agreement with Tehran, Press TV reported.
Stressing that Iraq pursues peaceful approaches based on dialogue and respect for its neighbors, Hussein said Baghdad opposes any act of violence against its national sovereignty.
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Sunday that Tehran will not extend the ultimatum given to Iraq to disarm Kurdish separatist groups along the border with Iran, warning Baghdad of an “eleventh-hour decision” on the matter.
Reports say Iraq’s national security adviser, KRG minister of interior, and special representative of the United Nations’ secretary general for Iraq have met in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, and discussed the implementation of the security pact. Meanwhile, Iraqi media reported on Saturday the country’s border guards have managed to gain full control over an area on the Kurdistan Region’s border with Iran and drive out terrorist groups following fierce clashes.
Iraq’s Shafaq news agency cited the country’s border guard forces as saying in a statement late on Friday that they had seized border points in Erbil Province and raised Iraq’s national flag in the area after clashes with “outlaws.”
The security agreement between the two countries came after anti-Iranian terrorist groups residing in Iraqi Kurdistan Region increased their malign activities, especially in border areas.