TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast doubt on Baghdad’s commitment to secure their common border during talks on Tuesday in Tehran with new Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Ties between the two neighbours have lately been strained by tensions over Iran carrying out cross-border strikes against exiled Kurdish opposition groups it accuses of fomenting unrest at home.

Responding to a pledge by Sudani that he would not allow Iraqi territory to be used to undermine Iran’s security, Khamenei said: “unfortunately, this is currently occurring in some parts of Iraq”.

Sudani’s meeting with the supreme leader followed talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during which they identified fighting “terrorism”, mutual security and economic cooperation as key priorities.

“From our perspective and that of the Iraqi government, security, peace, cooperation and regional stability are very important,” Raisi told a joint news conference.

Sudani said that “our government is determined not to allow any group or party to use Iraqi territory to undermine and disrupt Iran’s security.” Since nationwide protests erupted in Iran more than two months ago, officials have accused Kurdish opposition groups exiled in northern Iraq of stoking the unrest and the Islamic republic has repeatedly launched deadly cross-border strikes.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2022