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Tehran Summons Iraq's Ambassador to Protest Invitation of Iranian Kurds to Erbil

Signing ceremony for a security agreement between the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad. (AFP)
Signing ceremony for a security agreement between the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad. (AFP)
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Tehran Summons Iraq's Ambassador to Protest Invitation of Iranian Kurds to Erbil

Signing ceremony for a security agreement between the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad. (AFP)
Signing ceremony for a security agreement between the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad. (AFP)

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Iraqi ambassador to Tehran, Naseer Abdul Mohsen, to protest the presence of members of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party at an official ceremony in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Official spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani said the envoy was summoned on Saturday, reported Iranian news agencies on Sunday.

Kanaani said head of the First Gulf Department at the Foreign Ministry informed the ambassador of Tehran's strong objection to the invitation of members of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party to the event in Erbil.

The ministry official added that the ongoing movements of these groups in Kurdistan violate the recent security agreement between Iran and Iraq.

Kanaani was referring to the agreement that was signed during a visit by Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani to Baghdad on March 20. The deal calls for protecting the common borders between the two neighbors and consolidating cooperation in several security fields.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi official asserted that Baghdad is committed to preventing armed groups from using the Kurdistan region to launch any attack against Iran's border crossings, reported Iran International.

In recent years, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks against the positions of Kurdish parties and opposition groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Iran describes these parties and groups as "separatists."

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Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
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Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)

Sudan's army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at war with paramilitaries, has announced a cabinet reshuffle that replaces four ministers including those for foreign affairs and the media.

The late Sunday announcement comes with the northeast African country gripped by the world's worst displacement crisis, threatened by famine and desperate for aid, according to the UN.

In a post on its official Facebook page, Sudan's ruling sovereignty council said Burhan had approved replacement of the ministers of foreign affairs, the media, religious affairs and trade.

The civil war that began in April 2023 pits Burhan's military against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries under the command of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Since then, the army-aligned Sudanese government has been operating from the eastern city of Port Sudan, which has largely remained shielded from the violence.

But the Sudanese state "is completely absent from the scene" in all sectors, economist Haitham Fathy told AFP earlier this year.

The council did not disclose reasons behind the reshuffle but it coincides with rising violence in al-Gezira, south of the capital Khartoum, and North Darfur in Sudan's far west bordering Chad.

On Friday the spokesman for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he condemned attacks by the RSF on Gezira, after the United States made a similar call over the violence against civilians.

Among the key government changes, Ambassador Ali Youssef al-Sharif, a retired diplomat who previously served as Sudan's ambassador to China and South Africa, was appointed foreign minister.

He replaces Hussein Awad Ali who had held the role for seven months.

Journalist and TV presenter Khalid Ali Aleisir, based in London, was named minister of culture and media.

The reshuffle also saw Omar Banfir assigned to the trade ministry and Omar Bakhit appointed to the ministry of religious affairs.

Over the past two weeks, the RSF increased attacks on civilians in Gezira following the army's announcement that an RSF commander had defected.

According to an AFP tally based on medical and activist sources, at least 200 people were killed in Gezira last month alone. The UN reports that the violence has forced around 120,000 people from their homes.

In total, Sudan hosts more than 11 million displaced people, while another 3.1 million are now sheltering beyond its borders, according to the International Organization for Migration.