The Iranians, who include members of the exiled opposition People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, have been housed at Camp Ashraf, 70 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, for two decades.
Ban has cited a letter circulated last week by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Iraqi government outlining concerns about the Iranians at Camp Ashraf.
The letter "urged the government of Iraq to protect Ashraf residents from forcible deportation, expulsion or repatriation … and to refrain from any action that would endanger their life or security," Ban said.
In September, the International Committee of Jurists in Defense of Ashraf said that if the U.S. military handed control of the camp to Iraq, the Iranians would be in danger of expulsion to Iran by pro-Shi'ite elements in the Iraqi government.
Amnesty International has urged Iraq and the United States to treat members of the Iranian rebel group, also known as the Mujahideen e-Khalq, as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and not to deport them to Iran.
The 1949 pact bans extradition or forced repatriation of people who could face torture or persecution.
In article 45 of his latest report to the UN Security Council on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Ban said, "UNAMI continued to monitor closely the situation of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran members who are living in the Ashraf camp in Diyala Governorate.
"They are still under the protection of the United States army following an agreement signed in 2004, but the Government of Iraq has expressed its intention to take full control of the camp in the near future.
"In a letter dated 15 October 2008 to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iraq, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the Government of Iraq to protect Ashraf residents from forcible deportation, "expulsion or repatriation in violation of the non-refoulement principle, and to refrain from any action that would endanger their life or security.
It is also important that the humanitarian needs of the camp’s residents, including access to food and medial care, be met by those protecting the camp."