Iraqi Kurdistan’s ‘Unilateral’ Referendum Plan Only to Cause New Problems: Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday described the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s plan to hold an independence referendum in September as being inconsistent with the Iraqi Constitution, saying such unilateral decisions would only aggravate the situation in the Arab country.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s principled and clear stance is supporting Iraq’s territorial integrity and coherence,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Saturday.
“The Kurdistan Region is part of the Republic of Iraq,” he underlined.
The spokesman then warned that the unilateral decisions which are out of step with Iraq’s national and legal norms would only result in new problems in the Arab country, particularly in the current complicated situation in the region and given hostile attempts to drag out instability in Iraq.
“A united, stable and democratic Iraq would guarantee the interests of all people of that country from every sect and religion,” Qassemi added.
The Iranian diplomat finally stressed that any disagreement between Erbil and Baghdad should be settled through dialogue, national compromise and with respect for the Iraqi constitution.
The comments came after officials in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced that the northern territory will hold an independence referendum on September 25.
Masoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), announced the vote on Twitter on Wednesday.
The referendum on whether to secede from Iraq is planned to be held in the three governorates that make up the Kurdish region and in the areas that are disputed by the Kurdish and Iraqi governments but are currently under Kurdish military control.
The disputed areas include the key oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
