Iran Requests Iraq to Expel Rebels from Kurdistan Region

Official media in Iran reported that a senior security official demanded Iraq on Tuesday to expel Iranian rebels from the Kurdistan Region or expect "preventive measures" to be taken by Tehran against armed groups. Iran has previously bombed armed groups from the Kurdish opposition based in northern Iraq, mainly in areas controlled by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, saying, "We call on the Iraqi government to take more serious actions to expel these groups from the Kurdistan of Iraq so that Iran does not find itself compelled to take preventive measures against these armed terrorists." Shamkhani, who made these remarks in a meeting with visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, did not mention the Kurdistan Regional Government. Clashes frequently erupt along the Iranian border with northern Iraq between Iranian security forces and armed Kurdish groups such as the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, which have links to the PKK rebels in Turkey.