Iraqi Kurds maneuver to get closer to Iran
Following the rupture caused by the Sept. 25 independence referendum, the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iran are moving to bolster ties.
Iraqi Kurds have given reassurances to Tehran that they will not allow Kurdish opposition groups to launch cross-border attacks from Iraqi Kurdistan, a major development in the warming up of relations between Erbil and Tehran. This comes as ties reached a breaking point following the controversial Sept. 25 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.
“We cannot tolerate the fact that some counter-revolutionary groups use the Kurdish lands to kill our soldiers and citizens, [then] return to the areas under the [Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG)] control and claim responsibility with audacity in interviews with the official Kurdish media,” Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reportedly told a Kurdish delegation headed by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Jan. 21.
