TEHRAN: Iraq and Iran have signed a border security deal, a step Iraqi officials say is aimed primarily at tightening the frontier with Iraq’s Kurdish region, where Tehran says Kurdish armed groups pose a threat to its security.

In a ceremony that was also attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, the agreement was signed on Sunday by visiting Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Shamkhani and Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji.

The deal, which took months to prepare, will play a significant part in tackling and controlling the security issues brought on by "anti-Iran" groups headquartered in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, as per reports.

The Supreme National Security Council chief said any tension and crisis in areas along the same border will harm the two peoples' security and peace and act as hurdles to the development of the two countries' border cities. He urged "nipping them in the bud" in order to combat internal or foreign tensions and crisis-provoking elements. The "evil" activities of the armed anti-Iran groups and mercenaries, as well as the military and intelligence threats made by the American soldiers stationed in Iraq, must halt immediately, he said.

For his part, the prime minister of Iraq stated that the support and assistance of their Iranian brothers is always appreciated by the government and people of Iraq.

He continued by saying that the agreement's signing between Tehran and Baghdad showed that Baghdad and Tehran consider their two nations to be "unified as one," providing assurance that the Iraqi government won't permit anyone to exploit its territory to jeopardise Iran's security. 

Shamkhani came in Baghdad on Sunday morning at Araji's invitation. Mohammadreza Farzin, the head of Iran's Central Bank, and two assistants from the Foreign Ministry were with him.

Shamkhani also had meetings with Faiq Zaidan, the president of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, and Mohamed al-Halbousi, speaker of the Iraqi parliament. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir, speaking in Tehran, said that Shamkhani’s current trip to Iraq has been planned for 4  months and is focused on issues related to the armed groups in northern Iraq.

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