The Interior Minister of Iraq, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir al-Shammari,  spoke with representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on ways to protect the borders with Turkiye and Iran, according to a statement from the interior ministry.

According to the report, an Iraqi delegation of the Interior Ministry, the Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, the Commander of the Border Guard, and many other commanders and officers visited Erbil in response to the Prime Minister’s instructions.

The border control system was discussed in a meeting with Kurdish authorities, including the interior minister and the chief of staff of the peshmerga forces.

The authorities decided that the border guards of the first region would be in charge of 26 border checkpoints.

The statement emphasized that the Ministry of Interior is determined to regulate the borders with all neighboring nations and stated that the appropriate sums of money had been authorized to create the outposts.

Meanwhile, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, received US Ambassador to Iraq Alina L. Romanowski in Erbil on 14 December, where they discussed a range of topics, including Erbil-Baghdad relations, Iraq’s newly formed government, the latest political developments as well as the return of displaced people to their places of origin, according to Kurdistan 24 news.

According to an official statement, the Kurdish president stressed the necessity of having a “shared vision” for managing the country and its rich resources in a way that could bring prosperity and better services for the citizens.

They also stressed the importance of keeping the Iraqi borders secure through close cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad.

On the other hand, on 15 October, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, hosted an Iraqi delegation headed by National Security Adviser, Qassem al-Araji, to tackle the operations on their shared border.

In a statement issued by the Iranian ministry, Tehran commended the improvement of Iranian-Iraqi relations and expressed satisfaction with the deepening of the “strategic and excellent” coordination between the two countries.

However, Amir-Abdollahian also expressed Tehran’s dissatisfaction with Baghdad and Erbil’s lack of action to counter the armed Kurdish opposition groups operating in the Kurdistan region against Iran, which it will not tolerate.

Amir-Abdollahian accused both Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of failing to curb the activities of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and the Komala party.