Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister, has discussed security cooperation with Iraqi government officials during a visit to the neighbouring country, stressing that this cooperation will improve the security and stability of both states.
The Iranian minister, who is in Iraq for an official visit, held separate meetings with a number of Iraqi officials on Thursday and Friday, discussing a range of topics of mutual interests, including security cooperation.
Talking with Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji, Amir-Abdollahian said he was pleased that Iran and Iraq have succeeded in forming a high-security committee to dispel some existing concerns in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
He noted that the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani also travelled to Iraq to sign a security cooperation agreement with Baghdad.
Describing the presence of any anti-Iranian and separatist group in the Kurdistan region as ‘unacceptable’, he said that this will pose a threat to Iran, Iraq and even the Kurdistan region.
For his part, al-Araji described recent plots to deal a blow to the Islamic Republic of Iran as a delusion, stressing that any threat from Iraq’s soil to Iran will be ‘unacceptable and deplorable’.
The advisor also pointed to the importance of regional cooperation, noting that if interactions among regional countries are improved, there will be no room for the presence of extra-regional countries.
The remarks come as anti-Iranian terrorist groups residing in the Iraqi Kurdistan region have increased their malign activities, especially in border areas. Responding to the activities, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has launched several rounds of airstrikes against their positions since September 24th last year, vowing to continue attacks till the groups are unarmed.
Iran has, on countless occasions, warned the Iraqi Kurdistan’s local authorities that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along its north western borders, saying the country will give a decisive response should those areas become a hub of anti-Islamic Republic terrorists.
Amir-Abdollahian also held talks with Faleh al-Fayyad, head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi.
Expressing gratitude for the efforts and struggles of the PMU forces in battling Daesh and restoring stability and security to Iraq, he said stability and security in Iraq equal stability and security in Iran.
Fayyad, for his part, appreciated Iran for its unwavering support for the establishment of stability on the borders and across the entire region, stressing the need for the Iranian and Iraqi governments to keep up security cooperation.
In a separate meeting with the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidane, Amir-Abdollahian, thanked the Iraqi government for its efforts to form a high-security committee between the two countries, noting that the presence of terrorist groups is a threat to all parties, including Baghdad.
The Iranian foreign minister also called on the Iraqi judiciary official to finalise their actions regarding the case of anti-terror commanders General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Muhandis who were assassinated by US forces in January 2020.
Zidane explained the efforts by the Iraqi side to issue an indictment against the perpetrators and orchestraters of the assassination, noting that Iraq is determined to put those who did the attack on trial.
Furthermore, the top Iranian diplomat held another meeting with Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, where the two sides discussed a range of issues of mutual interest.
Amir-Abdollahian later wrote in a post on social media: ‘The future is bright and the best will come by the grace of God and efforts of all of us.’
- Meanwhile, the Bahraini forces have once again resumed their crackdown on Bahraini peaceful protesters, with the latest of assaults against two children from the Diraz village, which is home to the spiritual leader of the country’s Shia majority, Sheikh Isa Qassim.
The two young boys, Mojtaba Mounir and Mahdi Sayyed Maitham were arrested by the Bahraini forces on Thursday and taken before the public prosecutor’s office.
The al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said in a statement: ‘The resumption of arrests in February coincides with the 12th anniversary of the revolution in Bahrain, in which citizens demand democracy and social justice as well as reforms and a comprehensive political plan.’
It also added that the policy of arrests and filling prisons with peaceful protesters is an immature policy that reflects security and legal chaos, and demonstrates that the Bahraini regime is moving in the wrong direction.
The statement went on to say: ‘The attitude of the regime shows the depth of the political crisis, and the absence of any serious solution to resolve the status-quo.’
The statement also pointed out that: ‘Imprisonment, torture and repression of the nation by the regime is a sign of lack of national agreement.’
Such an attitude is a reflection of the falsehood of the slogans put forward by the Al Khalifa regime on peaceful coexistence, said the statement.
Since the beginning of the unrest in Bahrain, several Bahraini human rights groups have strongly denounced the Al Khalifah regime’s continued violation of the rights of hundreds of children in breach of United Nations (UN) conventions.
On a related note, prisoners at the notorious Jau prison issued a statement on Thursday in which they said that if the situation continues to worsen at the prison, they will declare an open-ended hunger strike.
Informed source have warned about inhumane conditions at Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison, saying more than a dozen prisoners have been brutally beaten and subjected to various forms of physical torture in the detention centre, as the Al Khalifah regime continues to terrorise them one way or another.
Also in January, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) raised the alarm over ‘inhumane conditions’ at Bahrain’s Jau Prison, saying prisoners were exposed to various forms of physical and mental torture at the jail.
The charity said officials at the prison had ramped up their repressive measures and harassment of imprisoned political dissidents, including human rights advocate Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent.
On Monday 14th March, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist the tiny island in its crackdown on dissent.
Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown on dissent.
- Yemen has called on the UN and relevant international bodies to adopt proper measures against the expulsion of Yemeni families by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from a strategic island south west of Socotra, as part of plans to build a military base there under the supervision of Israeli military experts.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, Fisheries and Water Resource in the National Salvation Government roundly denounced the eviction of the residents of Abd al-Kuri island, which is part of the Socotra Archipelago and lies about 105 kilometres (65 miles) south west of the island of Socotra, and their relocation to the coastal town of Hadibu.
The statement noted that displacement of locals and fishermen from the Yemeni island serves as a flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty, and poses serious threats to the residents of nearby islands as well as the international navigation.
The ministry went on to underscore the geostrategic importance of Abd al-Kuri island, arguing that the latest repressive measures against its locals come as Emirati and Israeli vessels continue overfishing in the surrounding waters and are seriously harming other marine species.
The statement also demanded prompt actions by the Security Council, the United Nations and relevant organisations to stop the expulsion of people from the island.
It urged the withdrawal of occupation Saudi-led forces from all Yemeni lands, and an end to the exploitation of Yemen’s marine wealth and natural reserves in Socotra.
Abd al-Kuri is among the most important islands near the Horn of Africa, and has great economic and oil resources.
There is a dispute between Yemen and the Somali government over the island’s sovereignty.
Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.
The objective was to crush the popular Ansarullah Houthi resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen, and to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve any of its objectives, leaving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and spawning the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
