IRAN AND IRAQ TO HOLD JOINT MILITARY DRILLS ON BORDER WITH KURDISTAN REGION

FILE IMAGE: aa.com.tr

On Saturday, Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri announced that Iran and Iraq will hold joint military drills along their border with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in the coming days.

“The joint maneuver, [dubbed] Eqtedar (Strength), will be held by Iran’s Armed Forces and units of the Iraqi army along the two countries’ joint borders,” Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri said after a high-level meeting of Iranian commanders.

According to Brig. Gen. Jazayeri, high-ranking commanders of the Iranian Armed Forces attended the meeting that was headed by Chairman of the Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri.

Brig. Gen. Jazayeri said that the aim of the meeting was to discuss the Iraqi government’s official request to help it to impose its control on the Iraqi-Iranian border.

“In line with the declared policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran to help safeguard Iraq’s solidarity and territorial integrity and following a request by the central Iraqi government for cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran on the establishment of the central government’s authority on the two countries’ border terminals … necessary decisions to establish security along borders and receive forces of the Iraqi central government for deployment at border posts,” Brig. Gen. Jazayeri said about the meeting.

Back on September 28, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that the US is against any military move by Iran and the Iraqi Federal Government against the Kurdistan Region.

“We would oppose any violence if that were to take place … We hope our voices will be heard in a very strong fashion that we oppose violence on any side of this,” Nauert said.

Despite this, the US will not likely take any measures against the Iraqi Federal Government if it makes a decision to take over all border crossings of the Kurdistan Region by force. On the other side, the governments of Iran and Turkey will likely help and support the Iraqi Federal Government in this move.

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