ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The president of Iran on Thursday said that his visit to Erbil is to “strengthen” relations between Tehran and Erbil and “eliminate” problems that had all but strained ties between the two sides. 

“We have come here to be able to strengthen our ties and eliminate all the existing problems,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told media outlets following his meeting with KDP’s President Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani, and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. “I am thankful for this hospitality… We have a mutual perspective."

Pezeshkian described Tehran's relations with Erbil and the region as “friendly” at all times.

"Now that peace has been established in the region, we will have to capitalize on this friendship in the fields of culture, economy, and security. We have to help each other and work together and help lay the groundwork for further developing the relations,” Pezeshkian said.

For his part, President Nechirvan Barzani said they were "very pleased to have the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran on his visit to Erbil within the framework of his visit to Iraq.”

"We have a historical cultural and language relationship with Iran,” Barzani added, describing Pezeshkian’s visit as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Kurdistan Region, just 45 days after taking office as a “historical event”.

"We spoke about our mutual relationships, especially the security questions,” the Kurdish president added.

Referring to the exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups which Iran has repeatedly deemed a threat to its national security, Barzani said “we stressed that the land of the Kurdistan Region will in no way be allowed to be used to destabilize our relations."

He added that Erbil and Tehran will work "as one team to sort these problems out."

"As the Kurdistan Region, we are ready to advance our relations in all areas,” he detailed. "At difficult times, we have always had the back of  the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Iraq and Iran signed a security pact in September 2023, which details the exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups should be disarmed and removed from their bases near Iranian border, and be relocated to refugee camps. 

Fulfilling its obligations per the pact, the Iraqi National Security Service announced earlier this week that they had so far shut down 77 military bases of the Kurdish exiled groups near Iran’s border areas, with their Peshmerga forces relocated to six refugee camps, including four camps in Erbil and two camps in Sulaimani.

Iran had repeatedly threatened to take matters into their own hands through military actions if Baghdad failed to implement the details of the pact. 

The armed Kurdish opposition groups of Iran have fought an on-and-off war with the Islamic Republic of Iran for decades now, striving for greater rights of Kurds in the western regions of the country.

Tehran considers the Kurdish groups threats to its national security, repeatedly calling on the KRG to stop them from using the border areas as a launchpad for attacks, however all Komala parties have time and again claimed that they are in a state of self defense and have not provoked Tehran.

Iran regularly carries out cross-border artillery, drone and ballistic missiles on alleged positions of the Kurdish armed groups, with civilians often caught in crossfire.

Pezeshkian’s next stop is Sulaimani where he will meet officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), notably party president Bafel Talabani.

Pezeshkian arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday on his first official foreign visit since taking office in July, where he was received by both Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and President Abdul Latif Rashid.

Sudani welcomed Pezeshkian at Baghdad International Airport in an official ceremony that included the playing of the national anthems of both countries and a review of the honor guard, representing various branches of Iraq’s armed forces.