Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani signed the deal with Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim Al-Araji, in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani.

The agreement commits Iran and Iraq to safeguarding the principles of good neighborliness and protecting the common border.

The deal is expected to have a significant role in ending the illegal presence of anti-Iranian armed groups and the elements affiliated with Israel in the Iraqi areas adjacent to Iran’s Northwestern border regions.

Shamkhani denounced “vicious activities by counter-revolutionary elements” in Northern Iraq. He stated that the deal signed on Sunday “can completely and fundamentally end the vicious actions of these groups”.

Sunday’s joint security agreement includes coordination in “protecting the common borders between the two countries and consolidating cooperation in several security fields”, according to a statement from the Iraqi prime minister’s office.

“Under the signed security deal, Iraq pledges it would not allow armed groups to use its territory in the Iraqi Kurdish region to launch any border-crossing attacks on neighbour Iran,” an Iraqi security official who attended the signing has confirmed.

Earlier on Sunday, Shamkhani in a meeting with Al-Sudani stressed that Iran-Iraq strategic cooperation ensures regional peace and progress.

The Iranian official stated that Tehran is always ready to contribute to the development of security, stability and progress in Iraq, noting that a united, integrated and powerful Iraq is the main cause of stability in the region.

"Any tensions and crises in the border regions shared between Iran and Iraq are disruptive to the security and tranquility of the people and a deterrent factor in the development of border cities," he said, adding that Iran and Iraq should eliminate any internal and external tensions in the neighboring regions.

Al-Sudani, for his part, said that the signing of an important security agreement between Tehran and Baghdad shows that the security of the two countries is interwoven with each other.

He added that under its constitution and mutual obligations, the Iraqi government will not allow any party to use Iraq’s territory to undermine Iran's security.

READ MORE: President Rayeesi Calls on Iraq Not to Turn into Platform for Terrorist Attacks on Iran

Since late September, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has launched a series of aerial operations on the headquarters of terrorist groups in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The military operation came after the illegal entry of armed teams linked with the Kurdish terrorist groups into the Iranian border cities in recent months.

The Permanent Mission of Iran to the UN has announced that diplomacy has failed to bring an end to the presence of terrorists in Kurdistan region and the terror activities in the Arab country has left Tehran with no other option but to use military force against them.

In mid-October, the Permanent Mission of Iran to the UN sent a letter to the head of the Security Council to elaborate on Tehran’s reasons for its recent military operation against terrorist groups in Northern Iraq, explaining that terrorists have used Iraqi territory to carry out armed attacks against civilians and Iran's infrastructure.

The IRGC Ground Force has announced that the operations against terror bases will continue until all anti-Iran separatist and terrorist outfits holed up in the rugged mountainous area lay down their arms and surrender.

The Iranian Armed Forces, specially the IRGC, have repeatedly warned that they will never tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along the Northwestern border and will give strong and decisive responses in case of anti-security activities.

The IRGC has on countless occasions attacked and destroyed terrorist hideouts in the Kurdistan region with artillery fire, missiles and drones.

Military officials warn of Tehran’s continued attacks against the strongholds of anti-revolutionary groups in the region, specially the Iraqi Kurdistan region. They threatened the Americans that their bases in the region should also be abolished and not be used as an anti-revolutionary center.