Senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani signed an agreement in Baghdad on Sunday to "
protect the border
" between Iran and Iraq, where Iranian Kurdish opposition groups targeted by Tehran are based, the office said. of the Iraqi Prime Minister.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Iranian Supreme Security Council, signed with his Iraqi counterpart Qassem al-Araji an agreement which "
includes coordination in the protection of common borders and the consolidation of cooperation in several security areas
", specified the services of Mohamed Chia al-Soudani.
This visit comes on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq led by the United States.
Today, ties between Baghdad and Tehran are closer than ever, and Soudani's government is backed by a pro-Iran parliamentary coalition.
Read alsoIran welcomes Iraq's decision to send forces to the border
Some Western capitals, however, warn against too great an influence in Iraq from neighboring Iran, which considers the United States its greatest enemy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
According to statements reported by the official Iranian agency Irna, Ali Shamkhani on Sunday attacked the "
anti-security and vicious activities of counter-revolutionary and terrorist elements in the region [of Iraqi Kurdistan] and northern Iraq.
".
He said the agreement signed on Sunday "
can completely and fundamentally end the vicious actions of these groups
".
These factions of the Iranian Kurdish opposition taking refuge in northern Iraq had been bombarded by Iran at the end of 2022, Tehran accusing them of infiltrating its territory to carry out attacks and encourage demonstrations.
The Iraqi government then undertook to redeploy its border guards to limit tensions.
At the time, Iran was rocked by a protest movement sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, 22, a young Kurdish woman arrested by morality police for alleged violation of the dress code for women.
Iraq was also one of the mediators in talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties in 2016, before announcing their resumption on March 10.
A rapprochement of which Ali Shamkhani was the craftsman on the Iranian side.
During his visit to Baghdad, he was accompanied by the governor of the Central Bank and the deputy minister in charge of economic affairs, according to Irna.
Trade is vital for both partners, especially in terms of energy.
Iraq is very dependent on its neighbor's gas and electricity.
