Tehran and Baghdad Agree on Disarmament and Relocation of Kurdish Groups from Northern Iraq

(Patria) - Iran and Iraq have reached an agreement on the disarmament of Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in northern Iraq and the relocation of their members from their current bases, officials from the two countries said, AP reported.

Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Iraqi government agreed "to disarm armed terrorist groups stationed on Iraqi territory by September 19, and then evacuate and relocate them from their military bases to camps designated by the Iraqi government."

He added that the deadline would not be extended and that relations between the two countries are "completely friendly and warm... and the presence of terrorists in the northern region of Iraq is an unpleasant stain on mutual ties."

Iran has periodically launched attacks on members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and other Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region near the border with Iran.

An Iraqi government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the agreement had been signed and said the central government in Baghdad is "working as quickly as possible" to relocate the group with the approval of the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

He declined to specify the exact location where the disarmed militants would be transferred, but said it would be within the Iraqi Kurdish region. He said they "will have a camp where they will live and they will be unarmed."

Various Iranian dissident groups in Iraq are affiliated with each of the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party based in Erbil and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party, whose stronghold is in Sulaymaniyah.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came to power last year through an Iran-backed coalition of parties and is considered close to Iran, although he has also sought to build ties with the United States and Turkey.

Sudani's spokesperson, Hisham al-Rikabi, said the prime minister has "repeatedly spoken about the government's rejection of Iraqi land being... a launchpad for targeting neighboring countries."

In addition to disarming militant groups and removing their bases, he said, the agreement with Iran promises that Iraq will deploy border guards to prevent "militant infiltration" across the border and will hand over wanted suspects to Iran "after arrest warrants are issued in accordance with the law."