Iraq says it has moved Kurdish dissident groups away from Iran border

For decades, the autonomous Kurdistan region has hosted camps and rear bases operated by dissident groups from Turkey and Iran

Iran's military released a video in September last year that it said showed missiles being launched at Iranian Kurdish opposition positions in Iraq. EPA

Iraq has moved the camps of armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups away from the border with Iran and deeper into its own territory, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Tuesday.

The announcement came days ahead of Iran's deadline for Iraq to disarm the opposition groups, which are based in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region.

“All the necessary measures have been taken according to the agreement with Iran to remove these groups from the borders and relocate them to camps deep within Iraqi Kurdistan,” Mr Hussein told reporters at a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart in Baghdad.

The region has for decades hosted camps and rear bases operated by Kurdish dissident groups from Turkey and Iran.

They include the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is based in Turkey but also operates in Iraq. It has been designated a terrorist group by the US and EU. The main Iranian groups are the Free Life Party of Kurdistan, known by its Kurdish acronym PJAK, and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

The presence of these groups in northern Iraq has been a source of tension between Baghdad and its neighbours.

“Our constitution doesn’t allow to any non-Iraqi, or even Iraqi group or party to use the Iraqi territories to attack neighbouring countries,” Mr Hussein said.

“So we deal with these groups according to the constitution. Therefore, we have prolonged and honest discussions with the Iranian and Turkish sides in this regard.

“These groups are not allowed to cross the border and use their weapons against the Iranian government,” he said.

Iran and Turkey have carried out repeated attacks on the Kurdish opposition groups, accusing them of destabilising their security, and have repeatedly called on Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government to disarm and expel these groups.

Mr Hussein did not say whether the Iranian opposition groups were disarmed or whether wanted members had been handed over to Iran.

He said he would visit Tehran on Wednesday.

“We are committed to this agreement, so we expect the Iranian side not to resort to violence against Iraqi Kurdistan and the sovereignty of Iraq,” he said.

Reopening Austrian Embassy

During his visit to Baghdad on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg reopened the Austrian embassy after a 30-year closure.

“We are back and we mean business,” Mr Schallenberg said during the reopening of the embassy, which is located in the Babylon Rotana Hotel in the Baghdad city centre.

Vienna closed the embassy in the middle of Gulf War in 1991. Since then, the Austrian embassy in neighbouring Jordan took on the functions of the Baghdad embassy.

“It is a historic event to resume Iraq-Austria relations,” he said during a joint press conference.

Iraq is a “key country in the region and it plays an extremely important role in the stability and security of the entire region”, he added.

The Austrian Foreign Minister was accompanied by several representatives of Austrian companies, as there are now more “opportunities for work in Iraq for the Austrian companies and the European ones in general”, Mr Hussein said during the press conference.

Both sides also discussed resuming flights between Baghdad and Vienna by Austrian Airlines.

Mr Schallenberg met the Iraqi President, Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker during his visit. On Wednesday, he will visit the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.