Kurdistan Referendum to Escalate Conflicts in Region, Iranian Official Warns
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council warned that an independence referendum will aggravate discord and tensions within the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Tuesday, Ali Shamkhani said ill-advised measures, like a planned independence referendum in Iraq’s Kurdistan, would pave the way for new conflicts and for creation of insecurity at a time that the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist groups is being destroyed.
Warning against the outbreak of disagreements among the Kurdish groups and parties after the referendum, Shamkhani said the referendum could escalate tensions and inflict more pain and suffering on the brave people of the Kurdistan region.
Authorities in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region have announced that the northern territory will hold the independence referendum on September 25.
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.