ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq on Tuesday said Baghdad has agreed to expel Iranian Kurdish “separatist” groups from the Kurdistan Region and hand them over to Tehran. No representatives from Erbil were present at the meeting, according to the Kurdistan Region's interior minister.

During a Monday meeting of the Iran-Iraq joint security committee attended by Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Aboudi, the two sides agreed “to expel the elements of the Iranian separatist terrorist groups from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq or to hand them over to Iran,” Iranian Ambassador Mohammed Kazem Al-e Sadeq wrote on X.

Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Reber Ahmed refused to comment on the meeting when asked by reporters in Erbil on Tuesday.

“We were not present at the meeting that took place in Baghdad. Therefore, I do not want to comment on a meeting we were not a part of,” the minister stated.

Contrary to Ahmed’s remarks, a statement on the meeting from Aboudi’s office a day earlier detailed that the meeting had been attended by “a government delegation from the Kurdistan Region.”

The meeting “explored ways” to enhance cooperation and coordination mechanisms between Baghdad, Erbil, and Tehran, “while ensuring the implementation of agreed-upon commitments,” the national security advisor’s office added.

The dissident Kurdish parties from Western Iran (Rojhelat) are based in the Kurdistan Region and have long been military targets for Iran, with frequent drone and missile strikes targeting their bases.

In 2023, Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement under which Baghdad pledged to disarm and relocate the Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from border areas, following repeated warnings from Tehran.

The Kurdistan Region has been targeted by hundreds of drone and missile strikes since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February. Despite the warring parties having significantly wound down their attacks, the Region continues to be targeted.

“We will not become part of the conflicts in the region and we have protected ourselves and we hope that all sides respect the Kurdistan Region’s position because there is no excuse for targeting the Kurdistan Region,” Ahmed said.

On Saturday, drones targeted a base belonging to the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan in Erbil province’s Soran administration without resulting in any casualties.

A missile strike targeting the same opposition group's base in Sulaimani province killed at least 10 people in July, marking the deadliest attack on the Kurdistan Region since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.

Last week, a camp belonging to another opposition group, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) in Erbil’s Koya district, also came under attack by two drones.

In February, five Kurdish opposition parties from western Iran (Rojhelat) announced the formation of a joint coalition called the “Alliance of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan,” marking a significant step towards a unified Kurdish opposition in Iran.