TEHRAN- Iran’s top military commander on Tuesday warned the Iraqi government that if Baghdad doesn’t take action against hostile armed groups in its northern territories by the deadline of September, Iran will launch new military operations against the militant separatist groups.

Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, lamented the failure of several neighboring governments to uphold their obligations toward border security.

“Armed secessionist groups exist in northern Iraq which cause insecurity at our borders,” the senior commander stated while addressing an annual meeting of IRGC commanders in Mashhad.

In order to safeguard Iran’s security, Major General Baqeri praised the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force for its “effective missile and drone attacks” against terrorist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

However, he noted that the strikes have since been halted after the Baghdad government committed to disarm those groups and put an end to their operations by the Iranian month of Shahrivar (August 23 – September 22).

The general went on to say that Iran will wait until that time and expect that the Iraqi government will keep its promises. “If the deadline passes and terrorists remain armed or carry out any operation, our operations against those groups will definitely reoccur more severely.”

Leading Iranian and Iraqi officials signed a historic security pact in March with the intention of laying out a plan for guaranteeing long-term security along the shared borders.

In 2022, the IRGC conducted a number of rounds of military operations against separatist group locations in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

On September 24, the initial phase of the assaults started, after a terrorist attempt to spark unrest and riots in border cities west of Iran.

Following their armed teams’ incursion into Iranian border cities, the Komalah and Democrat terrorist groups with bases in Iraq were targeted by the IRGC Ground Force.

The IRGC stated that these terrorists, who are located in northern Iraq and are supported by arrogant countries, were compelled to leave the nation after suffering significant fatalities.

The IRGC emphasized that despite several warnings from Iran regarding the operations of terrorist groups in the region, officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region failed to heed the warnings and take the appropriate precautions to stop terrorist activities.

Additionally, it has noted that the Iranian military activities are part of measures to maintain long-lasting border security and punish violent terrorists.