Top general: Iraq’s anti-terror actions near Iran border ’insufficient’
National Desk
Iranian top general considered Iraq’s actions to tackle the terrorist groups on the Iran-Iraq border as an important step, but not sufficient.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Saturday that the efforts of the Iraqi government and armed forces in clearing terrorist groups near Iran’s western border as a significant step, yet "insufficient", ISNA reported.
September 19 was the deadline, set by Iran, for the Iraqi-Kurdish authorities to implement a security agreement to take action against secessionist anti-Iran groups stationed in northern Iraq along the common border. The agreement was made in late March for the disarmament and expulsion of terrorists from the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq.
As part of the security agreement, the armed Kurdish groups in northern Iraq started pulling out from areas near the Iran border on September 19, as Baghdad faced the deadline.
Baqeri said that the issue of Iran’s borders with its neighbors and the insecurity the country faces at its borders are highly significant.
General Baqeri criticized the presence of separatist groups opposed to Iran along the borders of Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. These groups have been carrying out acts of terrorism inside Iran, which has required a strong border presence to respond effectively.
Iraqi officials also confirm that this issue must be definitively resolved, the commander said.
In the agreement between the secretaries of the Supreme National Security Councils of Iran and Iraq, it was agreed that these groups would disarm completely within six months, he said.
“In recent weeks, these groups have been somewhat relocated from positions and strongholds near our border. However, the main agreement was not just a tactical relocation of separatist groups, or moving them further away from the border; our main focus has been their complete disarmament,” Baqeri concluded.