Iran’s defense chief in Iraq to discuss an ‘important security agreement’

BAGHDAD (AP) — The head of Iran’s top defense body visited Iraq Monday to discuss a security agreement between the two countries, described as important, though details remain scant.

Iraq, which has managed to stay on the sidelines as military conflicts raged nearby for almost two years while balancing relations with Iran and the United States, had accused Israel of using its airspace to launch strikes on the Islamic Republic during a 12-day war in June and filed a complaint to the U.N. Security Council. Iraq’s government also tried to restrain local Iran-linked armed groups from entering the fray at the time.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said an “important security deal” with Iraq has been drafted, ahead of his visit to the neighboring country, reported state-run IRNA news agency. Larijani did not provide any details.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he had met with Larijani and had “sponsored the signing of a joint security memorandum of understanding … regarding security coordination on the common border between the two countries.” He also did not give further details.

Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji confirmed meeting Larijani, saying in a separate succinct statement they discussed “the implementation of the security agreement signed between the two countries” and “emphasized that the Iraqi government is working diligently to prevent any security breach aimed at encroaching upon any neighboring country.”

Larijani “praised the Iraqi government and its balanced foreign policy,” the statement said.

The two “also discussed the security situation in the region and the crimes of starvation and killing of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” calling for the international community to take action.

Al-Sudani told The Associated Press in an interview last month that he used a mix of political and military pressure to stop armed groups in Iraq aligned with Iran from becoming a part of the June war that saw the U.S. launch strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites as Israel waged an air war on the Islamic Republic.

As Iran retaliated by firing missiles at Tel Aviv, armed groups in Iraq attempted to launch missiles and drones, al-Sudani said, but they were thwarted 29 times by Iraqi government “security operations.” He did not specify the intended target of the missiles and drones, but in the past, factions in Iraq have fired toward Israel and at bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops

Larijani is also set to visit Lebanon later in the week, where IRNA said he will meet with officials to discuss matters including “national unity, (and) Lebanon’s independence.”

His visit to the tiny country comes at a time when Israel continues to launch strikes on the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group despite a ceasefire inked in November after last year’s Israel-Hezbollah war, and as Lebanon’s government is pushing the militant group to give up its remaining arsenal by the end of the year.