Security developments in Iraq, Talabani’s visit to Tehran, and the challenges of education in the Kurdish language in Syria

On Tuesday, the security authorities in Baghdad reiterated their emphasis on continuing to pursue those who launched explosive drones against neighboring countries. The head of the Security Media Cell, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, stressed that “investigations are continuing to identify the perpetrators” of the attacks against Saudi territory.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali Al-Zaidi, had relieved the operations commander of Maysan Governorate (south), and dismissed its police chief, along with other security officials, after it was proven that the attacks targeting Saudi Arabia were launched from a location within the governorate.

The official agency quoted the head of the Security Media Authority, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, as saying, “An intelligence committee discovered the platform from which the drones were launched inside Iraqi territory.” He continued: “The investigation is ongoing and ongoing, with the help of intelligence and technical efforts and forensic evidence, as well as fingerprints and other details related to completing the investigation to reach whoever committed this act.”

Maan stressed that “the focus is on who committed the act, and there is a new vision and a new line, the purpose of which is to insist on not giving any opportunity to those who try to mix the cards or drag Iraq into what we do not want.”

The security official stressed that Iraq does not allow any aggression against countries in the region, indicating that it “seeks to be a positive meeting point in the Middle East and the entire world.” He pointed out that "contact was made with the Saudi side to clarify the measures taken by the government."

Iran entered the line after it officially asked Iraq to participate in the investigation, which Al-Zaidi agreed to, according to the government’s military spokesman.

Politically, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party, Pavel Talabani, held a series of meetings with Iranian leaders during a visit he made, on Tuesday, to Tehran, which he began with a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said that Talabani’s visit to Tehran comes at the invitation of the Iranian Foreign Minister, and within the framework of the ongoing consultations that Iran is conducting with the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, with the aim of expanding bilateral relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region, economic cooperation and border security.

The Kurdish official's visit to Tehran came a day after various areas in Sulaymaniyah, the stronghold of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, were attacked by five missiles believed to be Iranian, which leads sources and observers to suggest that the visit will focus on the security file.

A statement from the National Union Party said that the meeting between Talabani and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “discussed the latest political changes and military developments in the region, and that Jalal Talabani stressed that the problems need a peaceful solution and continuous dialogue.”

The statement quoted Talabani as emphasizing his party’s efforts to “consolidate peace and calm the situation, and that the Kurdistan region respects the security and sovereignty of neighboring countries, and we are bound by a common and ancient history with the Iranian people.”

Syrian Kurds seek to preserve education in their mother tongue at a time when Damascus reimposes its authority over the Kurdish regions that enjoyed self-rule during the years-long civil war. They welcomed a decree allowing some subjects to be taught in the Kurdish language, but noted that it did not meet their demand for an entire curriculum in the Kurdish language, according to Reuters.

This issue emerged at the beginning of the first academic year since the reintegration of the Kurdish-majority Syrian regions into the state under agreements between Damascus and the Kurdish-led authorities. Students in the Kurdish regions protested against the implementation of a new curriculum in the Arabic language.

The role of the Kurdish language is a sensitive issue for the Kurds. It was banned in schools during the reign of the Assad family, which espoused the Arab nationalist ideas of the Baath Party, but it flourished during the years of Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria.

The opposition ousted President Bashar al-Assad in 2024. Syria's Kurds now face a rapidly changing reality after the state led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa seized Kurdish-administered areas in an offensive in January, paving the way for negotiations on how to merge their security and civil institutions, as the Kurds seek to preserve as much of their gains as possible.

Before the start of the school year, the Ministry of Education issued a decree recognizing Kurdish as a national language to be taught in areas where Kurds constitute a large portion of the population, responding to a long-standing Kurdish demand.

But the Kurds, who have been educated almost entirely in the Kurdish language since 2012, object to this decision because it limits the teaching of the Kurdish language to three lessons per week.

Kurdish officials said that the decree provided the option of teaching geography, history, social sciences and philosophy in the Kurdish language, but science and mathematics would be taught in Arabic under the new arrangements.

Suzan Ali (16 years old) said: “I studied the Kurdish language from the beginning of my studies until the eleventh grade, and now they say that they will allocate only three classes to the Kurdish language. “This is unacceptable.”

Merva Amo (18 years old) said that she protested to demand “a return to the previous curriculum in which all subjects were taught in the Kurdish language,” and that she would continue to demonstrate.

Education Minister Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Turku said before Parliament yesterday, Monday, that there are two opinions, one of which calls for teaching the Kurdish language along with other subjects, and the other calls for translating the entire curriculum into the Kurdish language.

He added, in excerpts from the session published by the “Afrin Now” news network on social media, that translating the entire curriculum into the Kurdish language is very difficult due to the necessity of providing teachers for all specializations, wondering how the student will complete his university studies.