Iraq Builds Over 100 Observation Towers On Iran-Kurdistan Borders

The Commander of the Iraqi Border Patrol has finished the construction of over 100 observation towers along the borders of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq with Iran.

According to a statement from the Iraqi Border Patrol, the measure is part of the security agreement between Baghdad and Tehran to protect the borders against security threats and smuggling.

Back in March, during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani in Baghdad, then-Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, and his Iraqi counterpart al-Araji signed a joint security cooperation document aimed at curtailing the activities of Iranian-Kurdish militants.

The Islamic Republic had previously threatened to take action if the Kurdish groups do not move their forces away from the Iranian borders in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

On September 19, Iraq announced that it had complied with the terms of the joint security pact with Iran and disarmed the opposition groups on the border.

Late in September, Iraqi border guards built “a 200-kilometer-long security barrier and installed more than 150 thermal cameras within the border with Iran,” state media reported, citing an interior ministry official.

Tehran has long accused the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of harboring opposition groups labeled as "terrorist" or "anti-revolutionary" and permitting them to use border areas as launchpads for attacks against Iran. The groups claim that their armed campaign aims to "defend the rights of the Kurds" in Iran.

During the nationwide uprising against the Islamic Republic following the government's killing of Mahsa Amini, the Revolutionary Guard repeatedly targeted Kurdish positions.