Tehran welcomes Iraqi decision to send troops to border area
A member of Peshmerga forces in Erbil. Photo: Al-Arabiya News
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Tehran welcomed on Monday the Iraqi government’s decision to send troops to the border area between Iran and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, where Iranian Kurdish factions are stationed.
Iran denounced the attacks it accuses Kurdish factions coming from Iraq of carrying it out on its territories.
“We heard news about the Iraqi government’s decision to deploy forces on the borders between Iran and the Kurdistan region of Iraq. We welcome this decision and we hope it will be implemented soon,” the spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani, said during his weekly press conference.
Kanaani added that Iran is ready to provide assistance if the Iraqi government needs technical assistance in this regard.
Baghdad’s deployment of its forces on the borders is part of Iraq’s promises to guarantee the security of the borders between the two countries, according to Kanaani.
On November 23, Iraq announced its intention to redeploy forces on its borders with Iran and Turkey, after repeated bombings by its two neighbors targeting Kurdish, Turkish and Iranian rebels in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The military authorities in Kurdistan region announced that the military reinforcements deployed on the borders are composed of the Peshmerga, which are special military forces in the Kurdistan region, but they are administratively affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.
Kanaani’s statements take place at the time Iran has been witnessing protests since mid-September, following the death of the 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for not adhering to the strict dress code in Iran.