Iranian-Iraqi agreement calls seeks to disarm Kurds in Iraq

As part of a border security agreement signed between Iran and Iraq in March, the Iraqi authorities have been disarming and transferring Kurdish groups away from the shared border for months, the agreed deadline for which is September 19th. 

Iranian officials have been quick to emphasise that the deadline will not be extended, and that they are prepared to resume the use of force on dissident groups they regard as terrorist actors residing inside Iraq. Tehran launched such attacks regularly throughout 2022. 

The relocation effort is a huge undertaking, since Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region is home to several Iranian Kurdish factions comprising thousands of individuals. Moreover, many groups hold small arms only, making disarmament a labour-intensive and burdensome process.  

Iraq believes they have upheld the agreement by proactively engaging in population resettlement and disarmament. They hope this will prevent escalation and would like to see the Iranian authorities cease from threatening violence on groups operating inside Iraqi territory. 

Given the difficulty of the relocation request, it is likely that Iran will claim Iraq has not upheld its side of the treaty, meaning attacks will resume. Expect to see Iranian-Iraqi relations sour as a result, as Iraq bristles against foreign attacks on their soil and Kurdish organisations retaliate against Iranian violence.