Counterintuitive: Iran signs border security deal with Iraq
NICOSIA — Iran and Iraq have signed an accord to cooperate on border security. [Iran has been continuously sending operatives into Iraq to coordinate the fight against the U.S.-led coalition forces.]
The agreement was signed on Aug. 17 by the commanders of Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraq's Border Guards.
The two nations said the cooperation would include coordinated patrols along the Arvand
River, which serves as a border between Iran and Iraq.
Another element of the accord stipulated an intelligence exchange on
border security. Officials said this would include alerts regarding the
movement of smugglers and illegal aliens.
"The two sides — in order to ensure the security on eastern and
western shores of Arvand River — have agreed in accordance with the terms
of the
security pact to launch regular and simultaneous patrols on both
sides of the border river," the official Iranian news agency, Irna, said.
Officials said Iran and Iraq have also agreed to establish border posts
and enhance existing installations. They said both countries would supply
additional patrol boats along the Arvand River.
Iraq plans to deploy 37,000 troops at 413 border checkpoints, officials
said.
By 2008, they said, Baghdad intends to increase the number of border
checkpoints
along the Iranian border to 530.
The accord was announced
at the
end of the first Iran-Iraq security session in Teheran.
