Iran has formally requested the extradition of 38 key members of Kurdish “separatist terrorist groups” based in northern Iraq, according to the High Council of Human Rights of Iran’s Judiciary. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy judiciary chief for international affairs, conveyed the request during a meeting with Faiq Zidan, president of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, in Baghdad. Gharibabadi urged a prompt extradition, citing bilateral judicial and security agreements signed in March of this year.
Zidan emphasized Iraq’s dedication to combating “terrorist” groups and promised judicial cooperation with Iran. This comes on the heels of the first meeting of the Iran-Iraq joint judicial committee on fighting terrorism, co-chaired by Gharibabadi and Laith Jabr Hamza, head of Iraq’s Judicial Supervision Commission. The two nations agreed to expedite judicial cooperation and the extradition process for terrorism-related suspects and convicts.
Under the security agreement signed in March, the Iraqi government had committed to disarming and relocating anti-Iranian “separatist terrorist groups” from Iraq’s Kurdistan region by a deadline that lapsed on Tuesday.