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Iraq, Kurdistan Discuss Mechanism to Secure Border with Iran, Türkiye

Female fighters of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition faction near the Iranian border (AFP)
Female fighters of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition faction near the Iranian border (AFP)
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Iraq, Kurdistan Discuss Mechanism to Secure Border with Iran, Türkiye

Female fighters of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition faction near the Iranian border (AFP)
Female fighters of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition faction near the Iranian border (AFP)

Iraqi Minister of Interior Lt-Gen Abdul Amir al-Shammari discussed with officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) measures to secure the Turkish and Iranian borders, the Interior Ministry announced in a statement.

It said that based on the directives of the Prime Minister, an Iraqi delegation of the Interior Ministry, the Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, the Commander of the Border Guard, and several commanders and officers visited Erbil.

The meeting discussed the mechanism of controlling the border with Kurdish officials headed by the Minister of Interior and Chief of Staff of the Peshmerga Forces.

They also addressed oil and energy, and ways to constitutionally resolve the differences between the two parties.

The officials agreed that the border guards of the first region would control 26 checkpoints on the border, provided the Peshmerga forces supported them during this process.

The statement indicated that the necessary sums of money had been allocated to build the outposts, stressing that the Ministry of Interior is determined to control the borders with all neighboring countries.

The new mechanism comes for the first time since 2003 after the regional government called on the federal government to take a position on the ongoing Iranian bombardment of Iraqi territory under the pretext of the presence of Iranian opposition members in the targeted areas. 

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani agreed with the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, to set up a border control mechanism that includes the deployment of Iraqi border guards, a move that had been previously rejected by the region.

Border control operations were previously limited to the Peshmerga, and the federal government reassured the Kurdish side by restricting the volunteers within the border guard forces in the region to Kurdish citizens.

Meanwhile, a Kurdish government delegation began talks in Baghdad on contentious issues without any representative from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) accused its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, of seizing the resources of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, which the National Union denied.

National Union official Mahmoud Khoshnaw said the KDP accusations were an attempt to evade the origin of the problem, noting that the Union is trying to distribute revenues to the residents of the region fairly.

Khoshnaw indicated that non-oil revenues are very simple, but Erbil's oil revenues exceed $1.2 billion per month, which is the origin of disagreement between the two parties.

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UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations’ special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank said Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop what she called the “genocide” in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia’s capital to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and ways that nations can try to stop Israel’s military offensive in the territory. Many of the participating nations have described the violence as genocide against the Palestinians.

“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese said. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.”

Analysts say it’s not clear whether the conference's participating countries have enough leverage over Israel to force it to change its policies in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The death toll comes from the health ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

“The United States has so far failed to influence Israel’s behavior ... so it is naive to think that this group of countries can have any influence over (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s behavior or on the government of Israel,” said Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at Bogota’s Los Andes University.

She said, however, that the conference will enable some nations of the Global South to clarify their position toward the conflict and have their voices heard.

The conference is co-chaired by the governments of South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight nations that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and to comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

For decades, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.

South Africa’s current argument is rooted in the sentiment that Palestinians have been oppressed in their homeland as Black South Africans were under apartheid.

The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel that include a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials, who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Colombia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Türkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures that can be taken to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks.

The Colombian official described Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order.

“This is not just about Palestine” Jaramillo said in a press conference. “It is about defending international law... and the right to self-determination.”