Iran denies role in recapture of Kirkuk
Iranian officials and media throw their support behind the Iraqi government’s operation to retake Kirkuk, but deny that the IRGC played any role.
Iranian media and officials have expressed support for the Iraqi forces’ operation to recapture Kirkuk, but deny that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) played any role in it.
Announcing Tehran’s support for the Iraqi government’s operation against peshmerga forces in Kirkuk, Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated Oct. 17, “Iran plays no role in the Kirkuk operation, and the majority of the Kurdish people of Iraq are against the ambitious actions of [Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud] Barzani. … We saw that the area was ceded to the government in Baghdad, and Mr. Barzani should accept his mistake and … admit [to this ceding].”
