Iranian, Iraqi border guards sign security pact Tehran, Aug 17, IRNA

Tehran, Aug 17, IRNA : Iran-Iraq-Border Security
Commanders of Islamic Republic of Iran's Guard Corps and Republic of Iraq's Border Guards signed a border security pact at end of their first joint session here Friday. The security pact was signed by Iran's General Qassem Rezaie and his Iraqi counterpart, General Mohsen Abdul-Hassan Lazem.
The two sides have in order to ensure the security on eastern and western shores of Arvand River, agreed in accordance with the terms of the security pact to launch regular and simultaneous patrol cruises on both sides of the border river. The Iranian and Iraqi border guard commanders have meanwhile agreed to increase the number of border posts, to further strengthen the existing check points, and to provide more patrol boats for both countries' border guards on the two sides of Arvand River. The two sides have agreed to introduce their border guards to the other country's concerned officials, and to exchange information regularly in order to halt the process of goods smuggling, and illegal entry of people through shared water borders. It was also emphasized during the meeting that better convenient facilities should be provided for the Iranian pilgrims of the holy shrines in Iraq, and for the Iraqi pilgrims of those in Iran. The Iranian side proposed holding a joint session among the entire border guard commanders of the Persian Gulf region in near future to address the share border security threats. The Joint Iranian and Iraqi Border Guard Commanders Meeting was held here in Tehran from Wednesday to Friday, aimed at boosting shared borders' security factor and to improve the relations between the two Islamic neighboring countries, and was the first of its kind between high ranking Iranian and Iraqi border officials.
Iraq has announced it has stationed 37,000 of its border guards at 413 check points, and is determined to increase the number of its border check points on the Islamic Republic of Iran's border to 530 stations by the end of 2007. Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, too, announced here on Thursday night that Islamic Republic of Iran's border security budget has been 1,300 fold during the course of the past couple of years.

MEANWHILE : Iranian forces shell Iraq's Kurdistan region- Aug 17, 2007, 9:15 GMT - 'Baghdad - Iranian forces resumed Thursday night shelling the border areas in the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, a senior Kurdish military officer said Friday.
The Iranian artillery shelled a number of villages, with the explosions setting fire to large areas of agricultural lands and forcing the villagers to flee elsewhere, senior officer Hussein Ahmed said in Sulaimaniya. \nIranian and Turkish forces had shelled two northern Iraqi border cities in the Kurdish autonomous region on Thursday. Targeted in the attack were the bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Party for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) from Iran, the sources said. Kurdish villages in the northern province of Arbil were bombed in the morning by Turkish forces, starting fires in agricultural lands and houses in two villages, an official source from the Kurdish Pershmerga said, without specifying how many casualties there were. Similarly, an intense Iranian strike in the province of Sulaimaniya caused terror among residents of a number of villages as well as significant property damage, local officials said.