Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast doubt on Baghdad's commitment to secure their common border during talks Tuesday in Tehran with new Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Ties between the two neighbours have lately been strained by tensions over Iran carrying out cross-border strikes against exiled Kurdish opposition groups it accuses of fomenting unrest at home.

Responding to a pledge by Sudani that he would not allow Iraqi territory to be used to undermine Iran's security, Khamenei said: "unfortunately, this is currently occurring in some parts of Iraq".

Sudani's meeting with the supreme leader followed talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during which they identified fighting "terrorism", mutual security and economic cooperation as key priorities.

Sudani was on his first official visit to Tehran after becoming prime minister last month, following a year-long tussle between political factions over forming a government following an October 2021 general election.

"From our perspective and that of the Iraqi government, security, peace, cooperation and regional stability are very important," Raisi told a joint news conference.

Sudani said that "our government is determined not to allow any group or party to use Iraqi territory to undermine and disrupt Iran's security."

Since nationwide protests erupted in Iran more than two months ago, officials have accused Kurdish opposition groups exiled in northern Iraq of stoking the unrest and the Islamic republic has repeatedly launched deadly cross-border strikes.

Strikes targeting Iranian-Kurdish groups in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region resumed this month, even after Iraq's federal government summoned Iran's ambassador in late September to complain about cross-border missile and drone hits that killed at least seven people.

On Tuesday Khamenei urged Sudani to take a tougher line.

"The only solution is for the Iraqi government to extend its authority" to regions that are undermining Iran's security, he said, referring to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraq has announced in the past week that it will redeploy federal guards on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, rather than leaving the responsibility to Kurdish peshmerga forces -- a move welcomed by Tehran.

On Tuesday, Sudani said that Iraqi and Iranian national security advisers would hold consultations to "establish a working mechanism for on-the-ground coordination to avoid any escalation".

He also thanked Iran for its continued deliveries of gas and electricity, which have been in short supply in Iraq.

Raisi said banking, finance and wider business topics were also discussed and that talks between the two allies "will help to resolve bilateral problems".

'It's not over': Iranian Kurds in Iraq in Tehran's crosshairs
Koysinjaq, Iraq (AFP) Nov 30, 2022 - The roof is caved in, a wall has exploded and broken glass litters the floor at a base of the exiled Kurdish-Iranian opposition in mountainous northern Iraq.

"These are the regime's missiles," said Karim Farkhapour, a leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), with a revolver strapped to his traditional belt.

"The Iranian regime has bombed us three times in less than two months."

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been torn by over two months of protests sparked by the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, 22.

As Iranians have vented their anger at the regime, Tehran has blamed outside forces, and exiled Kurdish groups on whose bases it has rained down missiles and so-called suicide drones.

The PDKI's headquarters, dubbed "the Castle", near the town of Koysinjaq, or Koya in Kurdish, looks like a desert mountain fort straight out of an adventure novel.

The movement settled there in 1993 during the era of former dictator Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in the 2003 US-led invasion and executed three years later.

Twelve PDKI members were killed and 20 wounded in the latest attacks on the site, said Farkhapour.

PDKI members have evacuated the fort, which remains heavily damaged, with cables dangling from the library roof and books scattered on the floor.

In another room, Farkhapour stepped gingerly through the rubble to reach a Kurdish flag that remained unscathed.

"The Tehran regime is going to target us again," he predicted grimly. "It's not over, you'll see."

- 'Hide the truth' -

It was not the first time Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched strikes against the PDKI or other groups in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Iranian government labels these factions "terrorists" accusing them of fuelling the civil unrest since the September 16 death of Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly breaching Iran's strict dress code for women.

Iran has accused the groups of importing weapons from Iraq across the porous border long used by smuggling networks.

"False", retorted Moustafa Mouloudi, another of the leaders of the PDKI in Koysinjaq.

"There is absolutely no evidence that we have smuggled weapons from Iraq to Iran," he said. "It's a lie that the regime has made up to hide the truth from the people. The regime is the terrorist."

Iranian Kurdish groups such as the PDKI and Komala have long been in Tehran's sights.

Based in Iraqi Kurdistan since the 1980s with the blessing of Saddam, who was then at war with Iran, many follow a socialist doctrine.

"We are a secular party and we fight for women's rights," said Farkhapour.

Although analysts believe they have largely refrained from armed activities in recent years, they continue to actively campaign from exile.

The PDKI denounces the discrimination suffered by Iran's Kurdish minority, who make up some 10 million out of the country's 83 million people.

The group has demanded a fully democratic and federal Iran in which Kurdish provinces would have considerable autonomy.

- 'Living in fear' -

The group is tightly organised in a rigid hierarchy and demanded that AFP reporters stick closely to an official programme for the visit.

Within the PDKI, "we are free", said Shaunem Hamzi, a 36-year-old activist who lives in Koysinjaq with her parents.

Before the latest attacks, she lived in a PDKI camp about 500 metres (yards) from the citadel where some 200 families resided in single-storey cinderblock or concrete houses.

However, the latest attacks, she said, "have been much stronger than the previous ones. The children, the families were very scared. The fear of getting killed is among us now."

Like the other inhabitants, Hamzi had to leave the camp and now frequently switches sleeping places.

As an Iranian Kurdish woman, she strongly identifies with the protest movement rocking Iran.

"If the regime even temporarily makes us stop, the protest will surface again, because it is in our hearts," she said passionately.

"The protesters will never obey the regime's rules."

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'It's not over': Iranian Kurds in Iraq in Tehran's crosshairs
Koysinjaq, Iraq (AFP) Nov 28, 2022
The roof is caved in, a wall has exploded and broken glass litters the floor at a base of the exiled Kurdish-Iranian opposition in mountainous northern Iraq. "These are the regime's missiles," said Karim Farkhapour, a leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), with a revolver strapped to his traditional belt. "The Iranian regime has bombed us three times in less than two months." The Islamic Republic of Iran has been torn by over two months of protests sparked by the death i ... read more