...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....on border control and the extradition of wanted persons.
In an interview with al-Jazeera, al-Sudani expressed his hope that the agreement would contribute to stabilizing the situation along the shared border.
Al-Sudani said that the relationship between Iran, the United States, and some Gulf countries should not negatively affect Iraq's stability, reiterating his rejection of any attack on neighboring countries from Iraqi territory.
"We do not need foreign combat forces in Iraq. The friends in Washington comprehend this matter," he said.
The premier assured that "significant figures" who are implicated in corruption will soon face prosecution, adding that the next stage would be the disarmament of all armed factions.
Al-Sudani acknowledged the demands of the Arab Sunni community, noting that these demands are not impossible, but rather a "long-overdue obligation".
"The stability in Iraq is a shared responsibility among all Iraqis," he said.
Al Ahram lays out the details of the agreement:
Iran, Iraq sign border protection deal months after strikes on KurdsIran's top security official on Sunday signed a deal with Iraqi authorities for "protection" of their common border, the Iraqi prime minister's office said, months after Tehran struck Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq's north.
Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region hosts camps and rear-bases operated by several Iranian Kurdish factions, which Iran
...The nation is noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence...
has accused of serving Western or Israeli interests in the past.
In November, Iran launched cross-border missile and dronezaps against several of the groups in northern Iraq, accusing them of stoking the nationwide protests triggered by the death in jug last September of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.
Ali Shamkhani, who heads Iran's Supreme National Security Council, inked the deal with his Iraqi counterpart Qassem al-Araji during a visit to Baghdad, the statement said.
It comprises "coordination over the protection of common borders", and will also see the "strengthening of cooperation in several areas of security", the statement from the office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani added.
Shamkhani denounced "vicious activities by counter-revolutionary elements" in northern Iraq, a reference to the Kurdish groups operating in the country, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA.
He said the agreement signed on Sunday "can completely and fundamentally end the vicious actions of these groups," which the Iranian government labels "terrorist."
After the Iranian strikes, Iraq in November announced it would redeploy federal guards on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, rather than leaving the responsibility to Kurdish peshmerga forces -- a move welcomed by Tehran.
Factions based in Iraq's mountainous north have in the past waged an armed insurrection against Tehran, but in recent years their activities have declined and experts said they had ceased nearly all military activity.
Shamkani's visit coincides with the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled former president Saddam Hussein. His fall gave birth to a political system that granted the Shia majority dominance over politics. Many of these Shia factions -- including Sudani's backers in parliament -- are supported by Shia-majority Iran. Relations between the two neighbours have grown ever-closer over the past two decades.
Baghdad had also played a role in mediating a reconciliation between Iran and regional rival Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...
, hosting several rounds of talks between the two since April 2021.
Riyadh and Tehran had cut all diplomatic ties in 2016 before a surprise Chinese-brokered reconciliation deal was announced earlier this month.
Shamkhani also met the governor of Iraq's central bank and the deputy minister of foreign affairs, according to IRNA. Tehran is a key trade partner for Baghdad, which in turn is largely dependent on gas and electricity from Iran.