Iranian opposition HQ on the border evacuated: Iraqi-Iranian security committee

Erbil (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi-Iranian security committee statement revealed that the Iranian opposition headquarters in Kurdistan Region border areas have been evacuated as a result of Iraq and Iran's commitment to the security agreement and the joint efforts of the federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

According to the statement, the opposition forces stationed at these headquarters have been relocated to a location far from the border and disarmed. They have been replaced by border guard forces of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

On Monday, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI), attended the Iraqi-Iranian security committee meetings in Erbil, in addition to previous meetings on the matter in Baghdad. She expressed her full support for the Iraqi government in implementing the agreement's provisions.

On March 19, then Supreme National Security Council Secretary of Iran Ali Shamkhani and Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji signed a joint security memorandum.

Iran has previously bombarded the Region’s border areas and alleged positions of the militant groups. Iran alleges the Kurdish opposition groups Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), and Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and were behind the Sept. 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, who died in police custody during her detention for “violating” the country's dress code.

KRG officials have said on many occasions that they do not allow any group to threaten Iranian national security from within the Kurdish region.

Should the Iraqi government fail to move the forces away from the border by Sept. 19, Tehran has forewarned it would resume its drone and artillery shelling against the suspected positions of the Kurdish forces inside the Kurdistan Region, which had witnessed rounds of attacks last year.