Tehran Continues to Violate Iraqi Sovereignty Despite Security Agreements
Sites belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraqi Kurdistan have been attacked by two explosive-laden drones.
Sites belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region were attacked Wednesday by two explosive-laden drones, according to security sources. The drones targeted positions in Sulaymaniyah and east of Erbil, drawing renewed attention to continuing strikes attributed to Iran despite security agreements with Baghdad addressing the groups’ presence on Iraqi territory.
The attacks come as the Iraqi government seeks to fulfil its commitments under its security agreement with Tehran. The agreement provides for preventing Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from using Iraqi territory to launch cross-border attacks, disarming them and relocating their bases away from border areas. Baghdad and Tehran signed the agreement in March 2023, following a series of Iranian strikes on the groups’ headquarters inside the region.
The renewed attacks raise questions about the justification for continuing Iranian military operations. Tehran has used the presence of Kurdish opposition groups in Kurdistan as a principal pretext for its strikes, even as Baghdad has pursued agreements with Iran to address the issue. Continued attacks despite Iraqi efforts also deepen concerns that Iran remains intent on violating Iraq’s sovereignty and treating its territory as an open arena for security and military operations, rather than relying on diplomatic channels and border coordination.
In October, Tehran announced that it had reached an agreement with Baghdad to expel Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from the region or hand their members over to the Iranian authorities. Iraq did not confirm that account. An official who attended a meeting of the joint security committee was quoted as saying that neither expulsion nor the handover of members had been discussed. Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji instead described arrangements to move members of these groups and their families to camps far from the Iranian border.
Tehran fears that the US military could arm Kurdish separatists to carry out attacks, although several logistical obstacles make that option difficult to implement.
Iranian strikes have not been confined to opposition sites. Last August, they also targeted a private residence belonging to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the home of the head of the region’s security and intelligence service in the Pirmam area of Erbil province. Kurdistan’s counterterrorism authorities said two Hadid-110 drones launched from Iranian territory struck the two locations without causing injuries. Barzani described the attack as a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to the region’s security and stability.
That incident carries implications beyond attacks on opposition groups: the strikes reached locations directly associated with the regional leadership and its security institutions. It raised concerns about an expanding range of targets and the undermining of stability in an autonomous region within the Iraqi state.
Iranian officials had also threatened ground incursions into several neighbouring countries if Washington resumed its war against Tehran.
