TEHRAN – President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region here Monday described the late founder of Iran’s Islamic Republic as a leader of the Kurdish people and their struggle to emerge from dictatorship and finally become a semi-autonomous territory within the Iraqi borders. 
Nichervan Barzani told Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi that Iran and its great political and military leaders have played a major role in helping the Kurdish movement in Iraq. 
“Imam Khomeini was not only Iran’s leader, he was our leader too,” Raisi’s chief political advisor Muhammad Jamshidi quoted Barzani as saying in the meeting. 
“If it was not for Iran’s revolution, it was not clear what fate would await the Kurdish movement,” said the Kurdish leader. 
Barzani also cited a famous quote by former president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Masoud Barzani saying late Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was the first person who came to the rescue of Kurds after they were attacked by Daesh terrorists in 2014.
President Raisi said Tehran expects both the Iraqi central government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government to prevent Israel and any anti-Iran elements from abusing their territory against the Islamic Republic.
“We are confident about the goodwill and friendship of our Iraqi and Kurdish brothers,” the president said.
He said Iran has always stressed the significance of strengthening unity and cohesion in Iraq and supported the country during its hard times.
The Iranian president hailed efforts by the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region to implement a security agreement with Iran and called for its full and strict implementation.
“Complete disarmament and the absence of anti-revolutionary elements in the Iraqi territory are a necessity,” Raisi emphasized.
The security agreement between Iran and Iraq entails the complete disarmament and re-location of anti-Iran terrorist groups operating in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi said Iran sees no obstacle in the way of promoting economic cooperation and trade exchanges with the Kurdistan region.
“We regard the long borders between the two sides as a valuable opportunity to improve the level of relations, but security is an essential base for any kind of cooperation or the expansion of interactions,” he added.
He said Iran and Iraq should not allow enemies and ill-wishers to disrupt the friendly and close relations between the two countries.
Barzani said that the Kurdistan Regional Government regards its cooperation with Iran as a red line and will never cross it.
He emphasized that the Kurdistan Regional Government will not prefer relations with the Zionist regime, which is currently in its worst position, over its ties with a powerful and friendly country like Iran.
Barzani reiterated the Kurdistan Region’s commitment to the full implementation of the Iran-Iraq security agreement.
The KRG president separately 

stressed that his semiautonomous region will not be used as a platform to harm the Islamic Republic’s security during a meeting with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
“Iran’s security is our security, and we will not allow any third party to harm the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” he said.
Barzani appreciated the support the Islamic Republic has extended to the Kurdistan region, both during the struggle against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and in present-day Iraq.
He expressed hope that relations between the Kurdistan region and the Islamic Republic would expand further in all sectors, including security and economy.
Iran’s security chief said that the relationship between Iran and Iraq’s Kurdistan are deep-rooted, historic and based on shared ideals that have been strengthened over time.
Ahmadian stressed that no third party, including the Israeli regime and anti-Iran elements, must be allowed to undermine this relationship.
He also said that Iran is ready to support and cooperate with Iraq’s Kurdistan region within the framework of the Iraqi constitution.
The two sides also urged the full implementation of a security agreement signed between Iran and Iraq, under which terrorist groups opposed to the Islamic Republic would be disarmed and dislocated in their border regions.