TEHRAN – Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Tuesday that he will pay a visit to Iran on Wednesday ahead of an important deadline in Iran set for the Iranian Kurdish groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan to be disarmed.

Speaking at a joint presser with his Austrian counterpart, Hussein said the Iraqi constitution doesn’t allow any party to target neighboring countries from Iraq. 

“The Iraqi constitution doesn’t allow any party to use the soil of Iraq to attack neighboring countries,” he said. 

The Iraqi foreign minister added, “We have taken the necessary measures to remove the opposition groups (separatist terrorist groups) from the borders of Iraq and Iran. Iraq adheres to the security agreement signed with Iran.”

Iran and Iraq have signed a security agreement aimed at disarming the Kurdish separatist groups. Iran set a deadline for the Iraqi government to implement the agreement by late September. 

Bafel Talabani, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), paid a visit to Iran before the end of the deadline. He met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. In this meeting, the Iranian foreign minister said that the Islamic Republic of Iran wants an independent, prosperous, and developed Iraq.

He pointed out that the presence of terrorists in the Kurdistan Region and their actions against Iran's security are at odds with the Iraqi Constitution and with friendly relations between the two nations. The Iranian foreign minister added that no one must undermine the security of Iraq's neighbors, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry. 

Pointing to the strong ties between Tehran and Baghdad, Amir Abdollahian stressed the need to speed up the implementation of the two countries’ security deal.

Bafel Talabani for his part appreciated Iran’s continued support for the Iraqi government and people.

The Iranian ambassador stressed the importance of his country's relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

He described Iran as the most powerful supporter of the Iraqi people and underlined that Iraqis are proud of their relations and friendship with the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

He also referred to the developments in the Kurdistan Region and the strengthening of relations between the region and the central government of Iraq as well as the measures by his party to increase security on the borders of the Kurdistan Region. Talabani then said Iraq would not allow its territory to be used as a launching pad for harming regional countries, particularly the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Nechervan Barzani, the head of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, has also underlined the KRG’s adherence to the security agreement in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Iran Mohammad Kazem Al Sadegh. 

Barzani pointed out the importance of relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran as an important neighbor of the Kurdistan Region.

He stressed that the region is committed to the security agreement between Iraq and Iran, and reassured that it will not allow any security threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran to emerge from the Kurdistan Region.