Iran’s President Pezeshkian travels to Kurdish region on second day of Iraq trip

Baghdad and Tehran have signed 14 initial accords to strengthen ties

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, left, is met in Erbil, in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, by the region's President Nechirvan Barzani. AFP

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian held "constructive" meetings on Thursday with Kurdish officials in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region on his first official trip abroad since taking office in July. A statement said the visit is intended to bolster ties.

Mr Pezeshkian was received in Erbil by the Kurdish region's President Nechirvan Barzani in Erbil, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. He is also expected to visit Sulaymaniyah, the stronghold of its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. In the past, Tehran has accused Iraqi Kurds of hosting Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and Iranian Kurdish armed groups and this week, Iranian officials said Tehran had demanded Iraq extradite members of these Kurdish groups.

"Our discussions were constructive, focusing on strengthening relations between the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and Iran, based on mutual interests and a shared commitment to regional stability," Mr Barzani said in a statement on X.

A separate statement from the semi-autonomous region's presidency said the two sides discussed relations, ways to expand trade ties, and the significance of preserving regional security and stability. “It was stressed that the Kurdistan Region will never become a source of threat to Iran and neighbouring countries and is completely committed to the Iraq-Iran security agreement,” it added.

For his part, Mr Pezeshkian told reporters in Erbil that the Iranian delegation is here to strengthen ties with both Iraq and the Kurdish Region “to resolve all problems that have existed so far”, according to the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw.

On Wednesday, Mr Pezeshkian met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, President Abdul Latif Rashid and acting Parliamentary Speaker Muhsin Al Mandalawi. Mr Al Sudani and Mr Pezeshkian also called for an “end the genocide against the Palestinians” in the Israel-Gaza war and urged the international community to fulfil its responsibilities in this regard. Late on Wednesday, Mr Pezeshkian met with senior political leaders, Iranian and Iraqi businessmen and representatives of the Iranian community in Iraq.

Baghdad and Tehran signed 14 memorandums of understanding in different fields and discussed co-operating on security and energy, including the refining industry.

Tehran has accused Iraqi Kurds of hosting Mossad bases working on espionage operations – although no evidence has been provided for the long-standing claims. Iran has launched missile attacks against these alleged Mossad headquarters, killing civilians. Iran has also accused the Kurdish regional government of harbouring Iranian Kurdish armed opposition groups it considers terrorists, and allowing them to use Iraqi border areas as a launch pad for attacks against Iran. Tehran has launched missile and drone attacks in northern Iraq.

Tehran says Kurdish separatist groups smuggled weapons from Iraq and fomented the 2022 protests that followed the death of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, after she was detained for wearing her hijab 'improperly'. On Tuesday, the Secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, Kazem Gharibabadi, said Tehran had taken legal action against these groups, and demanded that Baghdad extradite them.

“Within the framework of the Joint Committee for Legal Counter-Terrorism between the two countries, military measures have been taken,” Mr Gharibabadi told the semi-official Mehr news agency.

An extradition request was handed to Iraq in March in relation to 118 key members of the groups, he added. It is unclear whether Baghdad will hand them over to Iran.

In March last year, Tehran and Baghdad signed a security agreement after launching air strikes against bases of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq's semi-autonomous region. They have since agreed to disarm them and remove them from border areas.

The largest of these groups is the Kurdistan Free Life Party, a Kurdish militia that is closely affiliated with Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party, which also operates in northern Iraq. Others include the Komala Party and the Kurdistan Freedom Party. All seek the creation of an independent Kurdish state in Iran.