Iran says Iraq agrees to expel or hand over Kurdish opposition members

BAGHDAD — Iran’s embassy in Baghdad said Tuesday that Iraq had agreed to expel members of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from the Kurdistan Region or hand them over to Tehran, but the Iraqi government’s statement on the same security talks made no mention of any such agreement.

The two sides agreed to remove members of groups Tehran calls separatist organizations from the Kurdistan Region or transfer them to Iranian authorities, the embassy said on X, at a meeting of the joint security committee attended by an Iranian delegation and Iraq’s national security adviser. It did not name the groups, give a timetable or say what legal procedures would govern any transfers.

National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi chaired the meeting on Monday evening, attended by a senior Iranian delegation, members of Iraq’s Higher Security Committee and Kurdistan Regional Government representatives. According to the Iraqi statement, it addressed outstanding disputes over the joint security agreement, focusing on coordination between Baghdad, Erbil and Tehran to implement earlier commitments and on practical measures to strengthen security cooperation. It did not mention expulsions or transfers, and Iraqi officials have not confirmed the embassy’s account.

Under a security agreement signed in 2023, Iranian Kurdish opposition groups pulled back from positions near the border and moved to residential areas deeper inside the Kurdistan Region. Iran accuses some of the groups of armed activity from Iraqi territory. A camp of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran near Koya was hit by drones on Sept. 29, and Komala sites were struck in September.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said at the Middle East Research Institute Forum in Erbil on Oct. 12 that the opposition parties had behaved irresponsibly during the regional war, particularly with public statements suggesting they were ready to cross into Iran, exposing the Kurdistan Region to security risks. He said he had coordinated with authorities in Sulaymaniyah and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to deploy forces along the border to stop attacks into Iran, and that the constitution bars using Iraqi territory to attack neighbors. Barzani has said Iranian officials expressed regret over a March missile strike on Peshmerga positions that killed six fighters.