Baghdad implements all clauses of security agreement with Tehran, says Iraqi FM

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein says his country has implemented all clauses of a security agreement with neighboring Iran that entails the complete disarmament and re-location of anti-Iran terrorist groups operating in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Hussein made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the US government-owned Arabic-language Alhurra satellite TV channel on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.

The top Iraqi diplomat went on to highlight the political and security aspects of the pact, stating that Iran’s cessation of artillery bombardments on the positions of secessionist groups in the Kurdistan region was among the conditions of the agreement.

Iraq, in return, is obligated to remove armed elements from border areas. The central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have managed to successfully undertake the task, Hussein noted.

Earlier in the day, Chief of General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, said Tehran has given Iraq several more days to fully implement the March agreement to relocate and disarm anti-Iran groups.

He noted that the agreement stipulated that such groups be disarmed by September 19, but this has not happened yet.  

“What happened during this six-month respite was that [they] just distanced a bit from the borders of our country,” he said while thanking the Iraqi government for its efforts to disarm the groups.

SS