Shafaq News – Baghdad
A new security memorandum of understanding (MoU) between
Iraq and Iran has reignited debate over sovereignty, parliamentary oversight,
and Iraq’s vulnerability to regional rivalries.
Signed on Tuesday under the auspices of Prime Minister
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the document upgrades an earlier security record into
a broader agreement between National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji and his
Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani.
Objectives and Security Provisions
According to a senior Iraqi security source, the MoU aims to
strengthen border protection, address the presence of Iranian opposition groups
in the Kurdistan Region, and prevent the emergence of a PKK-style model in
Iraq’s frontier districts. It establishes mechanisms for intelligence sharing,
joint patrols, counter-narcotics coordination, and monitoring ISIS movements
along roughly 1,450 kilometers of border, about 600 kilometers of which lie
inside the Kurdistan Region.
Al-Araji said the accord builds directly on the March 2023
border security agreement, calling it its “foundation.” That earlier deal
focused on tightening control along the Kurdistan Region frontier, where Tehran
has accused armed dissidents of staging cross-border attacks.
Parliamentary Oversight and Political Reactions
Kareem Abu Souda, a member of the parliamentary Security and
Defense Committee, criticized the absence of legislative review, noting that
the Council of Representatives had not been informed due to its current
suspension. He told Shafaq News the committee “rejects any external
interference outside the framework of formal agreements,” and insisted any pact
“must be presented to Parliament in line with constitutional procedures.”
Security expert Sarmad al-Bayati described the MoU as
mutually beneficial for border management and threat reduction, linking it to
the 2023–2024 withdrawal of armed Iranian opposition factions from Iraq. “The
memorandum does not contain secret clauses,” he stressed.
MP Mukhtar al-Moussawi of the Foreign Relations Committee
called Iran Iraq’s “strategic depth,” recalling Tehran’s early military
assistance against ISIS in 2014 and saying the agreement “affirms that Iraq is
not alone.”
US Rejection and Regional Pushback
The US State Department warned the MoU could weaken Iraqi
security institutions and “turn Iraq into a client state of Iran.” Spokesperson
Tammy Bruce argued it undermined efforts to build independent Iraqi defense
capabilities.
Baghdad’s embassy in Washington responded that Iraq is not
subordinate to any state’s policies, that its decisions reflect independent
national will, and that it maintains balanced relations with both neighbors and
the United States based on mutual respect and shared interests.
Iran’s Embassy in Baghdad also rejected Washington’s
position, calling it “an unacceptable intrusion into the relations between two
neighboring and sovereign states” and accusing the United States of pursuing a
destabilizing approach in the region. The statement said such actions violate
the UN Charter and international law.
Domestic Political Divide
Salah al-Zubaidi of the Iran-aligned al-Nasr Coalition said
Washington has no right to dictate Iraq’s security policy, though he
acknowledged the possibility of US economic pressure to limit Iranian
influence.
Security analyst Ahmed al-Sharifi told Shafaq News that
under the 2008 US–Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement, Washington can raise
objections because Iran is a US adversary. “For now, the MoU remains a security
understanding, not a treaty, and therefore carries limited legal weight,” he
said.
Security expert Adnan al-Kanani described the memorandum as
part of long-term cooperation but stressed political divisions over Baghdad’s
closeness to Tehran. He noted that distancing Iranian opposition
elements—estimated at around 20,000 people, including families—remains a
central goal.
A Decade of Agreements and Flashpoints
The 2023 accord, reaffirmed by al-Araji as the base of the
current MoU, followed Tehran’s September ultimatum to disarm and relocate armed
Iranian Kurdish groups by the 19th of that month. Baghdad complied by moving
them from border zones to designated camps. Those measures came after Iranian
Revolutionary Guard missile and drone strikes in September and November 2022
against targets in the Kurdistan Region—operations Tehran framed as
counter-terrorism, but which intensified pressure for formal border arrangements.
Earlier milestones include the July 2017 military
cooperation MoU, which expanded joint training and logistics but drew US
concern over deepening Iranian military ties, and the December 2014 defense
cooperation MoU signed at the height of ISIS’s advance.
The deeper legal backdrop is the 1975 Algiers Agreement,
which settled land and river boundaries along the Shatt al-Arab—a reference
point repeatedly revived in moments of crisis.
Over the past decade—2014, 2017, 2023, and now 2025—each
deal has been followed by cycles of coercion or escalation. The latest
memorandum again seeks to codify border rules in hopes of reducing friction.
Whether this MoU breaks that cycle will depend less on the
language of the agreement than on transparent enforcement and Baghdad’s ability
to shield itself from the gravitational pull of competing regional powers.
Potential spoilers, according to observers, include renewed Iranian strikes in
Kurdistan, shifts in Iraq’s domestic political balance, or US economic measures
aimed at curbing Tehran’s influence.
Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.
