Iraq’s top security official visited Iran on Tuesday to deepen border coordination and tackle Kurdish armed groups. Tehran, in turn, used the occasion to push for stronger economic ties with its neighbor, particularly with regard to a long-planned railway project. 

Iraqi national security adviser Qasim al-Araji met Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, in Tehran. According to Araji’s office, the two discussed bilateral security and intelligence cooperation, particularly regarding “border control and the Kurdish opposition parties present in the region.”

The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the two called for the “full implementation” of their 2023 border security agreement during the meeting. The bilateral deal called for the Iraqi government to disarm and remove Iranian Kurdish groups from the border. Various Iranian Kurdish dissident groups have based themselves in parts of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq close to the Iranian border for years. 

The same day, Araji held a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader “stressed the significance of connecting Iran and Iraq's rail transport networks as a vital aspect of bilateral cooperation,” the IRNA reported.