By Our Correspondent.

Iran has claimed that Iraq has agreed to expel or hand over members of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups sheltering in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadegh, made the announcement on Tuesday, despite repeated statements by senior Iraqi security officials that Baghdad was unwilling to surrender the exiled Kurdish groups because of concerns for their safety.

The Iraqi Kurdistan region, an oil-rich territory in northern Iraq, has hosted camps and bases belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition groups for years. Tehran accuses the groups of being terrorist organisations working in the interests of the United States and Israel.

In a post on X, Al-Sadegh said the decision followed a meeting of the joint security commission attended by Iranian representatives and Iraq’s National Security Adviser.

“During a meeting of the joint security commission — attended by the Iranian delegation and the Iraqi National Security Adviser — the two parties agreed to expel the members of the Iranian separatist terrorist groups from the Iraqi Kurdistan region or hand them over to Iran,” the ambassador wrote.

The meeting took place in Baghdad on Monday, with a delegation from Iraq’s Kurdistan region also participating, according to a statement from the media office of Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassim Al-Abboudi.

The statement said discussions centred on “ways to address current challenges and to harmonise the visions of the parties concerned”.

However, the reported agreement comes amid conflicting positions over the fate of the Kurdish opposition members, as Iraqi security officials have previously expressed reluctance to hand them over to Tehran.

In 2023, Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement designed to strengthen control along their shared border, particularly in the Kurdistan region, and address the activities of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

The agreement ended repeated Iranian bombardments targeting the groups and helped reduce tensions between the neighbouring countries.

However, following the outbreak of the latest Middle East war in late February, triggered by US-Israeli strikes, Iran reportedly resumed deadly attacks against Kurdish opposition groups.

Under the 2023 agreement, Iraqi authorities disarmed the Iranian Kurdish groups, relocated them farther from the border and transferred them to designated camps.

On February 22, 2026, just days before the conflict began, five Iranian Kurdish opposition groups announced the formation of a political alliance. The coalition said its objectives included overthrowing the Iranian government and securing the Kurdish people’s right to self-determination.

The latest announcement has raised fresh questions about the future of the Kurdish opposition members living in Iraq, although the precise terms and implementation of the reported expulsion or handover agreement remain unclear from the statements provided.