Iran Seeks UN Help To ‘Disarm’ Iraqi Kurdish Parties

Iran's ambassador to Baghdad called for the assistance of the United Nations in “disarming Kurdish opposition parties” operating in Iraq.

In a Thursday meeting with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al-e-Sadegh highlighted the activities of Kurdish parties opposing the Islamic Republic in the Kurdistan Region.

According to the IRNA state news agency, Al-e-Sadegh claimed that the UN's cooperation is necessary to counter the “threat” posed by these parties who are openly leading calls to overthrow the regime and are blamed for much of the unrest the country has witnessed since September.

Iran has previously urged both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to disarm the Kurdish parties based in the Kurdistan Region. Iran's officials have warned that failing to comply with this demand would lead to military action against these parties' camps within Iraqi territory.

Last year, a security agreement was signed between Iran's former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, and his Iraqi counterpart, with a significant portion dedicated to the disarmament of Iranian opposition parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have conducted missile and drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq, a reaction to the Iranian Kurdish parties allegedly instigating protests, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman, while in the custody of the morality police.

The Kurdish parties involved, such as Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), generally advocate for Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran.