Iran's ambassador in Iraq: We agreed on 'removing or handing over' the Iranian Kurdish opposition

Iran's ambassador to Baghdad announced that Tehran and Baghdad have agreed to remove members of the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties from the Kurdistan Region or hand them over to Iran, in implementation of the joint security agreement. In response, senior Iraqi security officials confirmed Baghdad's refusal to hand them over for fear for their lives.

Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem Al-e Sadeq, announced on Tuesday that Tehran and Baghdad have agreed to remove members of the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties from the Kurdistan Region or hand them over to Iran, as part of implementing the joint security agreement to secure the borders. The announcement came during a meeting of the joint security committee attended by the Iranian delegation and the Iraqi National Security Advisor. In response, senior Iraqi security officials confirmed that Baghdad refuses to hand over these individuals for fear for their lives. Iran accuses the Kurdish opposition groups, which have been based in northern Iraq for years, of involvement in attacks inside Iran and serving the interests of Israel and Western countries. Baghdad and Tehran had signed an agreement in 2023 to enhance border security and neutralize the Kurdish opposition, which led to an end to the ongoing Iranian shelling of those groups and eased tensions between the two countries. However, Iran resumed its deadly strikes on the groups since the outbreak of the Middle East war at the end of February with a US-Israeli attack on Tehran.