Tehran, Baghdad Agree To Disarm And Move Iranian Dissidents In Iraq

Iran and Iraq have formalized an agreement to dismantle Iranian Kurdish dissident factions stationed in the northern reaches of Iraq and relocate them from their bases.

Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, explained the details of the agreement during a press briefing, stating that the Iraqi government had undertaken the commitment "to disarm the armed terrorist groups stationed in Iraq's territory by September 19, and subsequently, evacuate and transfer them from their military bases to camps designated by the Iraqi government."

Kanaani stressed that the stipulated deadline would remain non-negotiable. Despite characterizing the relationship between the two countries as "entirely friendly and warm," he acknowledged that the presence of these dissident groups in northern Iraq had cast an undesirable shadow on mutual diplomatic ties.

Historically, Iran has intermittently executed targeted operations against the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran (KDPI) and other Iranian Kurdish dissident elements operating within Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, adjacent to Iran's borders.

Various Iranian dissident factions in Iraq have aligned their allegiances with the two principal Iraqi Kurdish parties: the Kurdistan Democratic Party, headquartered in Erbil, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, with its stronghold in Suleimaniyah.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who assumed his role via a coalition of Iranian-backed political entities last year, is widely perceived to share close alignment with Iran although he has also attempted to build ties with the United States and Turkey.