Parastin u Zanyari (

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

for ''protection and information'') is a government agency and the primary investigative arm belonging to the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...

. The organization is now a governmental agency that was established after combining and uniting Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) intelligence service (called ''Parastin'') and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) intelligence service (called ''Zanyari'') under the name of Parastin u Zanyari. Parastin was first established in 1968 by the KDP. Parastin u Zanyari has been sometimes referred to as a "Kurdish intelligence service". The primary function of the agency is investigation of crimes relating to both the internal and external security of the Kurdistan region. The agency officially has no power to arrest or detain but shares intelligence with the Kurdistan intelligence agency, Asayish, which holds jurisdiction over a number of crimes in the region including terrorism. Although founded and funded by the KDP and PUK, it officially acts under the command of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

References

Iraqi Kurdish organizations Iraqi intelligence agencies Law enforcement in Iraq Kurdistan Region (Iraq) {{gov-agency-stub