TEHRAN -Iraq has moved to deploy more border guards and surveillance equipment to regions on the border with Iran. 

The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior said on Friday that it will deploy part of the troops stationed in Sulaymaniyah to the border with Iran.  It also announced the installation of dozens of turrets and cameras and a plan to establish border posts on the border with Iran, according to Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The head of the ministry’s public relations office, Sa’ad Ma’an, said, “Under the guidance of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and with the efforts and follow-up of the Minister of Interior, there was coordination with the Kurdistan region to dispatch the 21st Border Guard Brigade in Sulaymaniyah Governorate to the border with Iran.”

He added that 50 concrete turrets and 40 cameras have been installed, and 47 border posts will be built on the Iraq-Iran borderline. This work is part of the border control process, and during the next week, specialized contracting companies will be invited to submit bids, and then implementation will start, he continued. 

He noted, “Also, next week, the border cameras monitoring center will be opened, which will use 130 cameras, and work is continuing to add more. These cameras provide surveillance from the Sinjar district and the Iraq-Syria border, and extend along the border. A large surveillance hall will be opened, and these cameras will be used for security work.”

The Iraqi cabinet of ministers decided earlier to allocate 10 billion dinars to the Ministry of Interior, to build border posts on the Iraq-Iran border within the Kurdistan region to prevent infiltration and smuggling. It also announced that it is working to complete the border posts on the Iraq-Turkey border.

Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement earlier this year that obligates Iraq to exert more control on its border with Iran and work toward disarming Iranian Kurdish separatist groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan. 

The agreement was signed in March by Ali Shamkhani, the then-secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji. 

The foreign ministers of Iran and Iraq recently met in Baku and underlined to implement the security agreement. 

The security agreement between Iran and Iraq and its complete implementation were other issues that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian raised in the meeting. The Iraqi foreign minister noted his country's seriousness about regional stability and security, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

Recently, General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of joint staff of Iran’s armed forces, said Iraq had vowed to disarm Iranian Kurdish separatists based in Iraqi Kurdistan by September. If Iraq fails to act on its word, Bagheri warned, Iran will take action. 

Iran fired missiles against the headquarters of these groups in September 2022. And Bagheri warned that this time Iran will launch a tougher operation. 

Since last year, Iran and Iraq have held several rounds of security talks to disarm the Kurdish groups but Iraq has so far failed to take a concrete action in this regard.