President Raeisi: Iran Not to Tolerate Any Provocation by Iraqi-Based Terrorists

 Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi said that any provocative move by anti-Tehran terrorist groups in Northern Iraq is regarded as a measure against the regional security and stability, warning that his country will not bear any threat against its interests.

Iran’s president made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani of Iraq on Saturday.

President Rayeesi stressed that any act of provocation by terrorist and separatist groups undermines regional security and stability and will not be tolerated.

Tehran and Baghdad have been strengthening relations of security cooperation for sustainable peace, he added.

Sudani, for his part, reiterated commitment of the Iraqi government and nation to fight against all the elements who pose a threat to sustainable stability in the region.

Tehran has long accused Iraq’s Kurdish region of harbouring militant groups involved in attacks against Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kana’ani has recently said that Tehran and Baghdad have reached a deal to disarm and relocate the terrorist groups based in Northern Iraq.

“An agreement has been struck between Tehran and Baghdad, in which Iraq has committed to disarm armed separatists and terrorist groups present in its territory, close their bases and relocate them to other locations before the 19th of September,” Kana’ani told reporters in late August.

The Iraqi government has conveyed the provisions of the accord to officials in the Kurdistan region and Iran is now awaiting the implementation of the deal, he added.

The deadline will not be extended under any circumstances, the senior diplomat stressed.

Since late September 2022, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has launched a series of aerial operations on the headquarters of terrorist groups in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The military operation came after the illegal entry of armed teams linked with the Kurdish terrorist groups into the Iranian border cities in recent months.

The Permanent Mission of Iran to the UN has announced that diplomacy has failed to bring an end to the presence of terrorists in Kurdistan region and the terror activities in the Arab country has left Tehran with no other option but to use military force against them.

In mid-October, the Permanent Mission of Iran to the UN sent a letter to the head of the Security Council to elaborate on Tehran’s reasons for its recent military operation against terrorist groups in Northern Iraq, explaining that terrorists have used Iraqi territory to carry out armed attacks against civilians and Iran’s infrastructure.

The IRGC Ground Force has announced that the operations against terror bases will continue until all anti-Iran separatist and terrorist outfits holed up in the rugged mountainous area lay down their arms and surrender.

The Iranian Armed Forces, specially the IRGC, have repeatedly warned that they will never tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along the Northwestern border and will give strong and decisive responses in case of anti-security activities.

The IRGC has on countless occasions attacked and destroyed terrorist hideouts in the Kurdistan region with artillery fire, missiles and drones.

Military officials warn of Tehran’s continued attacks against the strongholds of anti-revolutionary groups in the region, specially the Iraqi Kurdistan region. They threatened the Americans that their bases in the region should also be abolished and not be used as an anti-revolutionary center.