ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi, Kurdish, and Iranian officials are set to meet on October 19 to discuss the presence of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region, Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Abboudi told Rudaw on Tuesday, stressing Baghdad’s commitment to resolving the issue peacefully.
"We are committed to resolving the issue of the Iranian opposition and the four parties present in the [Kurdistan] Region through peaceful means,” Abboudi told Rudaw's Nalin Hassan in an interview aired on Tuesday, adding that Baghdad was coordinating with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on the matter.
Abboudi said Baghdad had agreed to establish camps for members of the Kurdish opposition parties and their families away from the Iranian border, while the United Nations was working to process asylum applications for thousands of people.
According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 Iranian Kurdish refugees and asylum seekers live in Iraq, the vast majority in the Kurdistan Region.
Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement in 2023 aimed at addressing Tehran’s concerns over Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region. Under the agreement, Baghdad committed to relocating the groups away from the border and preventing them from using Iraqi territory to launch attacks against Iran.
The upcoming meeting comes amid continued attacks on positions belonging to Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region.
On Monday, two drones struck a camp belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) in Erbil's Koya district, causing material damage but no casualties.
A senior KDPI official told Rudaw that Iran had targeted the party 166 times, a figure referring specifically to attacks against the KDPI, not other Iranian Kurdish opposition groups. The party’s spokesperson, Khalid Azizi, has reiterated that the party would not use the Kurdistan Region as a base for military operations against Iran.
Asked about the continued Iranian strikes, Aboudi said Baghdad would raise the issue with Tehran.
“We will present this issue to them again and speak frankly that this matter must stop,” he said.
Abboudi also addressed Baghdad’s efforts to bring weapons held by Iraqi armed factions under state control, claiming that the government had secured an agreement with the factions to halt military operations and resolve the issue by June 2027.
“All of them signed this agreement,” he told Rudaw, adding that the groups had committed to refraining from military action until the deadline.
He said the additional time was needed to build trust and complete the necessary procedures.
The remarks follow the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq on September 30 and Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s announcement of a June 30, 2027, deadline for bringing weapons outside state control under government authority.
However, several powerful Iran-backed factions have publicly denied agreeing to disarm or accept a timetable, raising questions about how the government’s plan will be implemented.
Aboudi said efforts to bring armed groups under state authority also extended to Shingal (Sinar, the Yazidi-majority district where several armed groups remain active.
“Within a month, God willing, the armed presence on Mount Sinjar will end,” he said.
He added that approximately 1,500 fighters had joined Iraq's armed forces, 500 women are being integrated into community policing, and up to 2,000 others are expected to join security or civilian institutions.
The 2020 Sinjar Agreement between Baghdad and Erbil seeks to remove unauthorized armed groups and restore stability to the Yazidi-majority district, but implementation has repeatedly stalled.
On another security matter, Aboudi said Iraq was holding more than 5,000 suspected Islamic State (ISIS) detainees from 62 nationalities, including approximately 4,000 Syrians transferred from detention facilities.
“We investigated everyone. In fact, 400 Syrians among them were not proven guilty,” he said, adding that 50 have already been returned to Syria, with the remainder to follow in batches.
Aboudi said some countries, including the United States and, had received their nationals, while others continued to refuse repatriation.
“Any individual whose involvement in a terrorist crime is not proven will be released and handed over to their home country,” Abboudi said.
The detainees were transferred earlier this year amid major security developments in northeast Syria following clashes between Syrian government forces and the SDF.
In July, Iraq's judiciary told Rudaw that investigations had been completed in 4,872 of the 5,704 cases, with trials expected to begin in August.
