Iraq and Iran sign deal to tighten border security

Iraq and Iran have signed a new border security agreement aimed at tightening security on the frontier with Iraq's Kurdish region. According to Iraqi officials, the deal includes coordination to protect the common borders between the two countries and consolidate cooperation in several security fields.

The joint security agreement was signed by Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani and Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji. The Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed al-Sudani, was also present.

One Iraqi security official who attended the signing revealed that “under the signed security deal, Iraq pledges it would not allow armed groups to use its territory in the Iraqi Kurdish region to launch any border-crossing attacks on neighbor Iran.”

Iran has accused Kurdish dissidents of posing a threat to its security and has been concerned about the presence of Israeli spy agency Mossad in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region.

Last year, Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched missile and drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq, accusing them of fomenting protests that were sparked by the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman while in police custody.

Speaking in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that “Shamkhani's current trip to Iraq has been planned for four months and is focused on issues related to the armed groups in northern Iraq”. He added that Iran would not accept threats from Iraqi territories.

The new agreement is expected to bring greater cooperation between Iraq and Iran in several security fields, which could help improve the security situation in the region. The deal also highlights the importance of maintaining strong ties between the two countries to ensure peace and stability in the region.