Kurdistan’s Secession Bid Could Lead to Civil War in Iraq: Iranian Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian ambassador to Iraq said attempts made by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to secede from the Arab country could have led to civil war but the Iraqi nation managed to overcome the crisis.
Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Saturday, Iraj Masjedi underlined that Iraq has been able to pass through “two major crises” successfully.
One of them was the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group and Takfiris in Iraq, he said, adding that many factors are behind the victories of the country in the fight against the terrorists, including the presence of the Iraqi people and Tehran’s support for Baghdad.
Masjedi went on to say that the second crisis that Iraqi managed to overcome was the issue of the Kurdistan region.
The diplomat added that if the crisis had not been resolved, it could have led to a civil war in the Arab country.
People in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq voted for independence on September 25 in a controversial referendum, amid rising tensions and international opposition.
The referendum set off a chain of events, culminating in a military confrontation between Erbil and Baghdad.
Iraqi government forces launched a major operation in Kirkuk on October 16 and took control of its oil fields and a strategic military base without any armed clashes.
Analysts believe that the decision to hold the referendum in the face of near-universal condemnation was a colossal miscalculation, saying Kurdistan’s former president Masoud Barzani undermined his legitimacy by making such a move.
The Kurdistan Regional Government announced on October 25 it is prepared to freeze the results of the referendum.
