Iranian border guards spotted in Kurdistan Region cause concern

QALADZE, Kurdistan Region – Iranian security forces were in the Kurdistan Region city of Qaladze for a routine meeting on border cooperation, the city’s mayor has said after images of Iranians in the city in uniform sparked concern on social media.

Reacting to photographs and video of the Iranian forces, locals claimed that a force from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had been deployed to Qaladze, on the border with Iran about 130 kilometres east of Erbil.

Mayor Bakir Baiz said the uniformed men were Iranian border guards attending a normal meeting with their Kurdish counterparts in Qaladze as part of ongoing relations.

He said the two have held such meetings in both Kurdistan and Iran. Their last meeting was in the Kurdish city of Sardasht, Iran.

He added that the two sides meet whenever necessary.

"The meeting was related to the border problems between the two sides," the mayor said, without elaboration.

Following the meeting, the Iranian forces visited the city center, had lunch with their Kurdish counterparts, and then returned to Iran, the mayor explained.

Qaladze has a semi-official border crossing with Iran called Kele.

The Kurdistan Region has a security agreement with Iran regarding border cooperation.

Iran closed its three official border crossings with the Kurdistan Region after the September independence vote. The Bashmakh crossing was reopened in late October and the other two are expected to also reopen shortly.

The presence of Iranian border guards in the Kurdistan Region is an especially sensitive matter since Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias worked with Iraqi forces to take control of disputed areas from the Peshmerga in mid-October.

The Peshmerga ministry said that members of the IRGC’s Quds Force were among Iraqi ranks when the deadly clashes broke out.