TEHRAN – Iranian Kurdish separatist groups have agreed with a proposal from the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq to put aside their arms and stay away from Iran’s border, according to Tasnim. 

Citing a political source in Iraqi Kurdistan, Tasnim said the KRG and the separatist groups have reached an agreement regarding Iran based on which the groups will lay down their arms and move away from the border with Iran. 

“The government of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has practically started the measures to remove the Iranian opposition parties based in the Kurdistan Region in the border strip with Iran,” the source was quoted as saying on Saturday. 

The source added, “The opposition parties (terrorist separatist groups) have agreed to move to the camps already established in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces.”

The source continued, “It is never true that the opponents have refused to agree to the terms of the security agreement between Iran and Iraq, and want to resort to military options.”

The source noted, “The opposition parties (terrorist separatists) have fully agreed with the actions of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government.”

On March 19, Iran and Iraq inked a security agreement in Baghdad that includes coordination in protecting border security between the two countries.

Iran has repeatedly warned the local authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of militant groups along its northwestern borders, threatening a decisive response if those areas become a hive of activities against the Islamic Republic.

Iran has set a deadline for the KRG and Iraq’s central government to tackle the issue of separatist groups. The deadline would end on September 19 and Iranian officials signaled that it won’t be extended. 

“Iran’s stance is quite clear. According to the agreement reached with the Iraqi government, the final deadline for the disarmament of the terrorist and separatist forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region ends on September 19 and that deadline will not be extended in any way,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said earlier this month.