Iran's Ambassador in Baghdad: We Were Not Successful in Pursuing Kurdish Opponents

A few days after renewed military attacks by Tehran on certain areas of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Islamic Republic's ambassador in Baghdad stated: "We were not successful in pursuing the 'opposition file' in the Kurdistan Region." Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadeq, the Islamic Republic's ambassador in Iraq, claimed during a television program on the 'Al-Ahd' network that "committees" were formed to "control the borders and disarm" opponents "with the Kurds." Regarding the outcome of these committees, he said: "After we did not reach a conclusion, we raised this issue with Baghdad, and the 'Sudani government welcomed' solving this problem." The 'Al-Ahd' television network is part of the media branch of the political-military group 'Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq' in Iraq, which is a subgroup of the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) affiliated with the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Al-Sadeq also stated that Tehran has reached an agreement with the Iraqi side for "border control" in the northern parts of the country. In recent months, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly conducted missile, drone, and artillery attacks on areas in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq under the pretext of combating its armed opponents, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to residential areas. Local officials in the Kurdistan Region and political leaders in Baghdad have condemned these damaging military attacks on their territory multiple times and have called for a complete cessation of them. Last year, the Islamic Republic and Iraq signed a 'joint security cooperation' agreement, which Iranian media claim was primarily about the presence and activities of Kurdish parties opposed to Tehran. Meanwhile, on May 14, the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iraqi ambassador in Tehran to protest the presence of representatives of Kurdish opposition groups at a memorial ceremony for Mustafa Barzani, a leader of the Kurds in the region who passed away in 1978. At this ceremony, Abdul Latif Rashid, the President of Iraq, Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq, and representatives of some Iranian Kurdish organizations and parties were also present.