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."



Palestinian Officials Say Israeli Settlers Torched Cars in Ramallah

Palestinians inspect their burnt vehicles at the site where Israeli settlers attacked in Al-Bireh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 04 November 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect their burnt vehicles at the site where Israeli settlers attacked in Al-Bireh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 04 November 2024. (EPA)
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Palestinian Officials Say Israeli Settlers Torched Cars in Ramallah

Palestinians inspect their burnt vehicles at the site where Israeli settlers attacked in Al-Bireh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 04 November 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect their burnt vehicles at the site where Israeli settlers attacked in Al-Bireh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 04 November 2024. (EPA)

Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers were behind an attack in which several cars were torched overnight just a few kilometers (miles) away from the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

No one was wounded in the attack overnight into Monday in Al-Bireh, a city adjacent to Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered. An Associated Press reporter counted 18 burned-out cars.

Settler attacks on Palestinians and their property have surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.

But attacks in and around Ramallah, home to senior Palestinian officials and international missions, are rare.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers population centers in the territory, condemned the attack. Israeli police, who handle law enforcement matters involving settlers in the West Bank, said they were investigating.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy over less than half of the territory.

Over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship live in scores of settlements across the West Bank, which most of the international community considers illegal.