Islam Times - Iraqi Forces to Be Redeployed on Borders with Iran, Turkey: Baghdad

Islam Times - The Iraqi government took the decision to plan the redeployment of forces along the borders with Iran and Turkey as part of a series of decisions taken by Baghdad on Wednesday after two countries recently carried attacks on the locations of armed groups within Iraqi soil.

The mulling of the plan was announced in a statement by the National Security Council in Iraq, published by the Prime Ministry, following a meeting attended by the Chief of Staff of the Kurdish Peshmerga.

The meeting saw the Iraqi government taking several decisions, including “a plan to redeploy the Iraqi border forces to hold the area along the borders with Iran and Turkey.”

The statement indicated that Iraq will pursue “coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Ministry of Peshmerga, with the aim of unifying the national effort to protect the Iraqi borders, in addition to providing the border forces with all the logistical support needed, enhancing human resources, and providing the necessary funds,” to help the forces perform their duties.

The statement also touched on the importance of utilizing the human resources available for the Ministry of Interior to strengthen the border outposts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said earlier on Wednesday that “the Iraqi government promised Tehran to keep terrorists away from Iran’s borders and disarm these organizations.”

“As long as there is a threat from neighboring countries against us, our armed forces will continue to take action within the framework of international law,” Amir-Abdollahian told a press conference in Tehran, adding that “we will no longer need to act to defend our territorial integrity,” as Baghdad’s national forces are to be stationed on the border.

It is worth noting that Iran supplied Iraq with more than 70 documents regarding training camps, gathering locations, and armed units of the groups in the Kurdistan Region.

This came after new missile and drone attacks were carried out on Monday by the IRGC on the locations of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the Komala Party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem Al-e Sadeq said during an interview with Iranian Al-Alam TV that Iran has asked the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan authorities to disarm armed terrorist groups within a period not exceeding 10 days.

Media reports’ claims of Iran’s plans for a ground operation against terrorist groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were dismissed by Al-e Sadeq.

The ambassador said, “The issue of ground advance on Iraqi soil is not true and is basically out of question. We respect the sovereignty of Iraq and have done a lot for the stability and territorial unity of Iraq, for its people, and for the prosperity of that country,” adding that it would be impossible for a ground operation in Iraq to take place.

The Iranian ambassador to Iraq said that the commander of the Quds Force visited Iraq and met with Iraqi officials, noting that Iran had agreed with the central government and the authorities of the Kurdistan region to deploy Iraqi forces on the borders of Kurdistan. However, the plan was not implemented.