TEHRAN – Qassem Al-Araji, the Iraqi national security advisor, arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks over border security.
“Under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the National Security Adviser is heading to Tehran at the head of a security delegation to discuss measures to secure the borders between Iraq and Iran,” Al-Araji said in a statement on Facebook.
Earlier this week, he had travelled to Sulaymaniyah on orders from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Sudani to review measures related to the implementation of a security agreement between Iran and Iraq regarding border security.
“Under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the National Security Advisor went to Sulaymaniyah Governorate at the head of a security delegation to discuss the procedures of the security agreement between Iraq and Iran,” the office of Al-Araji said in a statement.
The visit came after Iran issued a warning to the Iraqi government to implement the security agreement signed between Tehran and Baghdad regarding border security.
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said Iraq has made a commitment to disarm and drive out anti-Iranian militants operating in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
“We are waiting for the Iraqi government to keep its promises, and we have given them a chance to get rid of the terrorists. Otherwise, and if nothing is done, the IRGC strikes would continue,” Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC Ground Force, stated last week.
Before his trip to Sulaymaniyah, Al-Araji met the Iranian military attaché in Baghdad to discuss border issues. “We discussed with the Iranian military attaché in Baghdad measures to enhance security and the responsibility of the two countries in securing the borders, and we discussed security files and issues of common interest, in a way that achieves security and stability in the region,” the Iraqi national security advisor said on Twitter.
In Tehran, Al-Araji met with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Ahmadian told the visiting Iraqi official that Iran expect Baghdad to expel counter-revolutionary elements from Iran in accordance with the Iran-Iraq security agreement.
“We expect the Iraqi government to guarantee the security of this country's borders with Iran as soon as possible while ending the presence of anti-revolutionary elements in this country within the framework of this agreement,” Ahmadian told Al-Araji.
Ahmadian described the recent security agreement, which is the result of months of dialogue and joint efforts of the relevant institutions of the two countries, as a very appropriate and strategic measure and emphasized on the strict implementation of its provisions.
Al-Araji, for his part, underlined Iraq’s commitment to the security agreement. “I have come to meet you with a high-ranking delegation and emphasize Iraq's adherence to the agreement recently signed between the two countries,” he said.
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